8. A Sobering Place Flashcards
Why doesn’t the writer drink?
She doesn’t want to become an alcoholic like her mother.
Do you consider the writer’s mom a good mother? Give two reasons to explain why.
No because the writer needs to be her mother’s bartender instead of a child being attended to. On weekends, the mother got drunk. Didn’t clean the house or comb her hair. Broke lamps, cursed dad and threw things at him. She ends arguments by leaving the family for a few days to party. She then comes back groggy.
From the writer’s point of view, why is her mother addicted to alcohol?
She had been transferred from house to house until she was a teenager, and she had no idea who her father was. She wanted to drink the insecurity and sadness away.
When does her mother finally quit drinking? Why does she quit drinking?
When she got tired of getting up drunk, going to bed drunk and living that life.
What is so special about Shirley Temple?
It is a virgin drink (thus no alcohol). It allows her to fit in with her friends and to cast aside the hurt of her childhood.
