Lines from go ask alice that, in hindsight, should have tipped me. This story follows the typical template for the say no to drugs genre of liturature. The song white rabbit predates the book go ask alice. The novel is in epistolary format, being comprised entirely of diary entries and as such, was first thought to be an autobiography. The girl who wrote this diary lived in two different worlds, the real world and a fantasy world. It is almost entirely in firstperson, written as entries of the protagonists diary that she received at the beginning of the book. Poignant and unflinchingly honest, her story is a tragedy that is repeated in towns and cities across the country. In retrospect, i can see that reading go ask alice at that particular stage of my adolescence had a profound effect on the person i became. An award winning novel by the name of go ask alice did that. Bookbanners like to take go ask alice out of libraries because they.
Go ask alice, an information service originally available only to columbia university students but later accessible to others through its web site, takes book form in this eyeopening collection of questions and answers. Grace brought it with her from the great society when she joined up with jefferson airplane in 1966. Go ask alice by anon and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. It uses imagery found in the fantasy works of lewis carroll1865s alices adventures in wonderland and its 1871 sequel through the lookingglasssuch as changing size after taking pills or drinking an unknown liquid. As powerfuland as timelytoday as ever, go ask alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction. Mar 23, 2017 d espite the popularity of go ask alice, the mystery of the diarists identity has never been truly solved, and none of her relatives have ever come forward to claim a share of the royalties.
Go ask alice is a 1971 book generally viewed to have been written by the author beatrice sparks, however the novel was published originally under the pseudonym anonymous. Go ask alice is a supposed diary of a young girl caught up in the wild life of drug abuse in the late 1960s. All these insecurities make her look for the escape by the means of. She gets a fever and has to go the hospital with help of someone.
D espite the popularity of go ask alice, the mystery of the diarists identity has never been truly solved, and none of her relatives have ever come forward to claim a share of the royalties. Some people maintain that alice in wonderland can only have been written by an author with considerable hallucinogenic mushroom experience under their belt. The author, through this book, doesnt wants his readers to look for advise in it, but to learn about the real world in which some teenagers have to live through. A list of important facts about anonymouss go ask alice, including setting, climax, protagonists, and antagonists. Go ask alice by beatrice sparks is an epistolary work, meaning that is structured as a series of entries such as letters or in this case, a diary. Go ask alice is a reference to a jefferson airplane song called white rabbit, which alludes to rampant hallucinogenic drug use in lewis carrolls alice in wonderland. As powerfuland as timelytoday as ever, go ask alice remains the. White rabbit is one of grace slicks earliest songs, written during either late 1965 or early 1966.
Book of answers is published and the site gets an overhaul and updated look go ask alice. Which, of course, means that it was insanely popular among teens and preteens. But those of you old enough to remember the latter portion of the 70s might remember that beatrice sparks, the editor of go ask alice, also edited a bunch of other alarmist books aimed at teens, all supposedly taken from teenagers diaries. A website that has information about health for teens 3. The go ask alice community note includes chapterbychapter summary. Go ask alice by beatrice sparks, 198208, avon flare. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading go ask alice.
She is a pretty typical teenage girl in the late 1960sshes mostly concerned with school, boys, her hair, and fitting in okay, thats pretty typical for any decade. As powerful and as timely today as ever, go ask alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction. It is written by beatrice sparks in the form of the diary of an anonymous teenage girl who. This book most definitely falls in the genre of coming of ageit has all the. Sparknotes is here for you weve got everything you need to ace or teach. I think this book writes in a interesting way while it teaches us a life lesson by expressing in diary form. Most leaders dont even know the game they are in simon sinek at live2lead 2016 duration. Essay about go ask alice by anonymous 837 words bartleby. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after.
For thirtyfive years, the acclaimed, bestselling firstperson account of a teenage girls harrowing decent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. Go ask alice is a 1971 novel about the life of a troubled teenage girl. By now, the go ask alice readers narrative is a comic genre unto. Letting ana go is a book in the form of a diary that follows an unnamed teenage girl as she goes from a healthy athlete to someone in a desperate battle with anorexia. Through out the history of film, many productions have been made based on best selling novels. In the 1970s, this fake diary scaredand temptedteenage. Under the provocative title, go ask alice, was the word anonymous. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited.
A book report on go ask alice english literature essay. I never blamed the book for fueling my anxietiesthose wheels were clearly already in motionbut i do. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited real diary of the unnamed teenage protagonist. Go ask alice by anonymous if you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. The diary begins right before alices fifteenth birthday. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after publication. The queries are representative of those emailed by anonymous visitors to the go ask alice web site. Overall go ask alice is a really fantastic bookdiary, with a huge unexpected ending. Information and translations of go ask alice in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. But when she attends a party and drinks a soda laced with lsd, she begins a drawnout addiction to drugs that slowly but brutally takes over her life. In go ask alice, the diary is written by a teenage girl over a twoyear period and chronicles her experiences with drugsmainly marijuana, acid, and speed. This is my first anonymous book, having never read any of the other similar books published in the previous years go ask alice, lucy in the sky or jays journal. Many books have influenced my life and how i think, but very few have altered my sense of reality.
This study guide consists of approximately 52 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of go ask alice. Go ask alice has been around for decades, and is even being used as reading material in high schools. Apr 17, 2014 when go ask alice was first published in 1971, it was a sensation lifting the curtain on the ugly truth about the drugandsexsaturated culture of teenagers in the late 60s. It uses imagery found in the fantasy works of lewis carroll1865s alices adventures in wonderland and its 1871 sequel through the lookingglasssuch as changing size after taking pills or. Jamie smithjackson portrays a shy, slightly overweight high schooler. Based on a 15yearolds diary, go ask alice is the intimate account of one girls fatal journey into the world of drug addiction. A dark and edgy firstperson cautionary tale about how one girls seemingly minor choices quickly spiraled into a life as a sex worker in the tradition of go ask alice and lucy in. Alice was the pseudonymous name of the teenaged author who wrote the book upon which this aboveaverage tv movie was based. It started when she was served a soft drink laced with lsd in a da. Go ask alice is a fiction work written anonymously and first published in 1971. Its sick and wrong to feel that way about another girlbut if you ignore it, it doesnt mean anything. Ellen hopkins first ya novel, crank, has become a bestselling sensation and the quintessential cautionary tale about the slippery slope of drug use for. This is my second read of go ask alice, and i loved it just as much the second time around.
Go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but in the last two decades, it still lives in the top 25 most frequently banned books, according to the. A shocking true story for fans of reasons why kindle edition by anonymous. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of go ask alice and what it means. Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of selfdestructive escapism. Go ask alice by anonymous and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
Sep 29, 2015 the anonymous diarist in the 1971 book go ask alice is just a normal 15yearold girl dealing with crushes, friendships, a new move and body image. Lyrics in the song white rabbit by the band jefferson airplane 2. Go ask alice by anonymous, first edition abebooks passion for books. Kris from sf, ca this song was not written about the book go ask alice. Created during the height of the drug era, the girl could be anyone from this time who found him or herself seduced by the mindaltering affects of marijuana, lsd, bennies, dexies, and heroin. Jul 03, 2014 go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but in the last two decades, it still lives in the top 25 most frequently banned books, according to the american library association. With over a million copies in print, this book has become a classic. Nov 20, 2003 based on a 15yearolds diary, go ask alice is the intimate account of one girls fatal journey into the world of drug addiction. When go ask alice was first published in 1971, it was a sensation lifting the curtain on the ugly truth about the drugandsexsaturated culture of teenagers in the late 60s. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The book that defined my teen anxiety turned out to be a. Actionadventure british television comedy classics documentaries drama. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published.
What is the meaning of the song white rabbit by jefferson. Letting ana go is the diary of a 16yearold girl chronicling how a simple task of keeping a food journal for track turned into an uncontrollable obsession to be thin. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. May 07, 20 letting ana go is a book in the form of a diary that follows an unnamed teenage girl as she goes from a healthy athlete to someone in a desperate battle with anorexia. No one and i mean no one could describe an lsd trip like alice does in the later. Go ask alice symbols, allegory and motifs gradesaver. Go ask alice is written as the diary of a fifteenyearold girls daytoday struggle with drug addiction.
Originally sold as the real diary of an actual teenager, go ask alice is the fauxmemoir of a 15yearold girl whose life is dominated by her drug problems. Howling hilarity upon rereading the book in this context. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book. It is our intent and purpose to foster and encourage indepth discussion about all things related to books, authors, genres, or publishing in a safe, supportive environment. Its an added unexpected ending you knew was coming,but you were not expecting to happen the way it did. Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of selfdestructive.
Go ask alice independent reading project a honors english. Only parents can decide if they want their children to read go ask alice. It graphically describes the waking hell into which the main character descends, her heartfelt but futile battles to. In 1976, a stage play of the same name, written by frank shiras and based on the book, was also published. The anonymous diarist in the 1971 book go ask alice is just a normal 15yearold girl dealing with crushes, friendships, a new move and body image. Go ask alice, written by an anonymous author, is a diary kept by a fifteenyearold drug user. Go ask alice is the firstperson tale of an accidental downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, unwanted sex, and impoverished living. The book was written in 1967 and the song was originally written around 1965. Oct 03, 2016 go ask alice is the firstperson tale of an accidental downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, unwanted sex, and impoverished living.