full title Go Ask Alice
author Anonymous (some believe it is Beatrice Sparks, one of the editors)
type of work Non-fiction diary
genre Bildungsroman (coming-of-age); epistolary; drug-alcohol
language English
time and place written late 1960s, The United States
date of first publication 1971
publisher Avon Books
narrator Alice
climax Alice is freed from the mental hospital and decides to commit her life to staying clean and helping others
protagonist Alice
antagonist Drugs; society as a whole
setting (time) Late 1960s
setting (place) An unidentified college town; San Francisco/Berkeley; Oregon
point of view Alice's first-person diary entries
falling action The epilogue reveals that Alice died of an overdose several weeks after her last diary entry
tense Immediate past tense
foreshadowing Alice's nightmares about maggots and worms eating her grandparents' corpses materialize in her overdose-driven hallucinations.
tone Alternating between naïve and world-weary
themes Difficulty of communication; problems of adolescent identity
motifs Counterculture and drugs; sexual assault
symbols Maggots and worms
