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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. What is NOT a task Nic calls his father David to report taking during his longest period of sobriety within the narrative?

2. What is the name for an object, situation, person, or feeling that creates overwhelming feeling of craving in an addict?

3. When the woman at Al-Anon tells a story about considering suicide but deciding against it, what event befalls her directly afterwards?

4. What is Nic's favorite record store?

5. Who advises David that he should not pull his son out of college due to Nic's recent relapse?

Short Essay Questions

1. What distinction does Sheff make between useful guilt and guilt that is not useful?

2. What does Sheff mean when he calls addiction an "equal-opportunity affliction" (177)?

3. How much more likely are addicts to have underlying mental health issues, in relation to the general population?

4. What is the symbolism of Nic's note to Jasper?

5. What distinction does Sheff make between blame and accountability?

6. What major medical emergency befalls David Sheff just before Nic's eighteenth birthday?

7. What does David describe as his usual routine when Nic goes missing?

8. In what way is the theme of hope demonstrated in David's mention of St. Helena Hospital?

9. Discuss examples of contingency management strategies that have been shown to be effective in managing addiction.

10. What observation does Nic make about the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Sheff use sensory details in order to paint a vivid portrait of anecdotes included within the text? Discuss at least two scenes that include the use of sensory details and pull quotes from these scenes to support your claims.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

What ultimate message is David Sheff's memoir Beautiful Boy sending about the nature and value of compassion?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,000 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample