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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. Who flies east with Nic to help him get settled at Hampshire College?

2. In what town do Karen and David attend their first Al-Anon meeting?

3. The experts whom David consults agree that the first step toward methamphetamine recovery must be what?

4. At what location do David and Nic agree to meet the day that Nic is very late?

5. In an excerpt from Addict in the Family, its author states that addicts inevitably take what action with respect to their parents' past regrets?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Discuss Sheff's use of the broken suitcase image to indicate the injured nature of his post-hemorrhage brain.

3. What element does Sheff name as "the bitterest irony of early sobriety" (228)?

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

5. Whom does Sheff list as people and organizations he at times blames for Nic's problems, before returning to the idea that Nic has a disease that causes his bad behavior?

6. For what purpose does Sheff use the allusion to the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?

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. What new hobby does Nic take up around the time when David regains his memory after surviving a cerebral hemorrhage?

10. For what reason does Sheff warn the parents of addicted children to avoid certain music?

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

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

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Sheff's decision to include humor within the text of his memoir Beautiful Boy. What purpose did Sheff have in mind when including these instances of humor and how does the inclusion of these instances support the overarching themes and messages of the text?

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This section contains 994 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample