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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year does Chapter 1 begin?

2. The initial use of amphetamine for medical purposes was for what malady?

3. What movie is Nic reviewing when he declares, "Great songs. Great crows" (25)?

4. David's college was chosen by which magazine as "one of the top party schools in the nation" (84)?

5. To whom does David attribute Nic's love for film directors such as Godard, Bergman, and Kurosawa?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss Sheff's purpose for providing statistics about methamphetamine use in the introduction.

2. What kinds of contradictory advice does David receive about Nic when Nic is getting into trouble as a teenager?

3. What is Charles's first close call with drugs and how is David involved?

4. For what purpose does David Sheff use an allusion to the film Welcome to the Dollhouse at the opening of Chapter 6?

5. What major revelation does David make to the reader upon describing his son's admission of crystal meth use?

6. Describe the setting depicted in the introduction.

7. What approach does David take in his stance with Nic about the topic of illicit drugs?

8. How does David react when Nic offers him a hit of a marijuana joint when they are out on a walk together?

9. What reason does Sheff provide for his decision to forego foreshadowing within the memoir?

10. How is the theme of duality demonstrated in David's discussion of Nic's behavior with his younger siblings?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the connection Sheff draws between his own experiences as the father of an addict and the state of the opioid crisis plaguing twenty-first century America.

Essay Topic 2

What is Sheff's message regarding the difference between loving behavior, and enabling or co-dependent behavior, and how does he get this message across to the reader?

Essay Topic 3

How does David Sheff’s memoir Beautiful Boy utilize irony within the text? Discuss at least three uses of irony within the memoir and explore each instance's connection to larger themes contained within the piece.

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