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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. With whom did David first try crystal methamphetamine?

2. In what year did the FDA classify methamphetamine as a controlled substance?

3. Nic decides that his choice of college had been a mistake and that he would do better at what type of college?

4. Who owns a small cabin in Inverness, California?

5. What are the names of Nic's two first-ever dogs?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is the author's purpose for using a quote from The Tempest as an epigraph for Part II?

3. What is the strongest evidence of Nic's negative feelings about his parents' divorce?

4. How is the theme of family bonds depicted within the scene of Daisy's birth?

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

6. What pattern does David note in Nic's literary tastes in high school?

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

8. How does David Sheff characterize his friend Charles?

9. How does David react when he finds a baggie of marijuana in Nic's room?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does David Sheff go about breaking the text into parts and how do these structural elements help to advance the memoir’s themes, mood, and argumentation?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of the final passages included at the end of David Sheff's memoir Beautiful Boy.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's treatment of truth, lies, and hypocrisy within David Sheff's memoir Beautiful Boy.

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