Rock Star Meet Teetotaler Analysis

Drinking, A Love Story, Written by Caroline Knapp: Is an insider’s story about fighting the battle of alcoholism and addiction, victoriously winning sobriety. Caroline Knapp fought her addiction for 20 years before becoming sober. “The Drink” as she called it, was her true love. The most beloved form being a good crisp dry white wine, but any form would do. She fell in love with alcohol at a young age and loved everything about it. The smell, the sound of a cork being pulled from a bottle, the cold liquid anesthesia running down the back of her throat after a long day at the office, the routine of drinking, but most of all she loved the way alcohol made her feel.

Carver’s “A Serious Talk” is another short story that perfectly demonstrates the damaging affects of alcohol addiction on both the addict and those who surround them. In the story, a woman named Vera is visited by her ex-husband Burt, who arrives to give

Alcohol has always been one of the most profitable industries in the business world. More than $400 billion worth of alcohol purchased in the US alone in 2013 according to an economic website. Alcohol is a common figure where it can be easily spot in every household to grand restaurants, however, it is a huge factor contributed to the death rate each year. It has ruined an innumerable number of people lives due to excessive drinking or affect by an alcoholic person. In his book, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, Sherman Alexie emphasizes how significance alcohol can affect a teenager life, where Junior, the main protagonist has lost 3 family members because of alcohol. He shows that alcoholic should not be taken as a

“Alcohol addiction stunts the spiritual, emotional and mental growth of a person”~Anonymous. Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, is a book based off the author’s teenage life. The novel is about a poor 14 year old named Junior who faced numerous challenges in his life. Junior has experienced bullying, he was called a traitor for following his dreams, got in a huge fight with his best friend and lost three very important people in his life because of alcohol. Fortunately in the end, Junior got through the pain and lived on but he learned many lessons. One of the lessons Junior learned was that the fall into addiction, in this situation alcohol, leads to a great deal of misery for the individual and those

Alcohol, it has been around for ten thousand years. Some great things have come from it, but in some situations it has ruined people’s lives. Some may ask how something can have such opposite endings. Well the answer is that people don’t know moderation while consuming alcohol. Alcohol can easily be misinterpreted as an un-harmful substance. In this essay I will educate readers that in moderation and in church traditions it is not harmful or being abused. I will be discussing the importance of where the selfishness and rule breaking comes from when one is intoxicated while driving. I say selfish because that is what it is, a human being lacking consideration for

In the book ‘Dry’, Augusten Burroughs gives us an insightful look into the life of someone who has been struggling with alcohol abuse. Augusten is just an average man in his twenties, he lives in Manhattan, New York, works in advertising, and has plenty of money. But there is one thing that makes him anything but. When an average man may be having one or two drinks, Augusten had eleven. His whole life revolved around alcohol. He would stay out going to bars all night, and never go home. At work you could smell the alcohol in his pores and his breath. With his job on the line, Augusten was asked to go to rehab.

In today’s society, alcohol has become one of the main necessities for people to create relaxation, confidence, and the ability to be social. In the short story “A Bartender Tells What Man Did to Booze, and Booze to Man”, an anonymous bartender gives an up close and personal account of his observations about the effects alcohol has on men. He emphasizes the change in their character after a few drinks. Koren Zailckas from Smashed shares a memoir of her life describing her relationship with alcohol abuse and the problems that it caused for her. Although certain types of alcohol are used to support good health, it is the excessive consumption and misuse that leaves people dependent resulting in significant social, physical, and mental

Alcoholism is defined as an addiction to the indulgence of alcoholic liquor and the compelling behaviour which results from alcohol dependency. In the novel “Medicine Walk” by Richard Wagamese and the essay “Mother’s Milk” by Christie Blatchford, the reasoning behind and dire repercussions of alcohol abuse are evident through the characters Eldon Starlight and Christie’s mother. However, Eldon’s reason for alcoholism is much more traumatic and its effect on both himself and those around him is of greater severity as opposed to Christie’s mother. As a teenager Christie’s mother suffers from social nervousness and uses alcohol as a means of reducing her anxiety, whereas Eldon begins drinking after he was forced to leave his home as his mother chose her abusive husband over him. After Christie was born her mother began drinking at a higher degree while Eldon’s alcoholism heightens after he must kill his only friend to ensure his own survival. Occasionally Christie’s mother would quit alcohol for around a month’s time and her health would improve, contrastingly Eldon’s attempt to abstain from alcohol lasts only a couple of days and results in the deterioration of his health. Despite her alcoholism Christie’s mother lives past the age of 80 and even outlives her husband by 15 years, on the other hand due to his alcohol abuse Eldon suffers from liver failure which results in his early death. Her mother’s

Alcoholism is a problem experienced in many societies and covers issues associated with intake of alcohol (Schneider, 1978). In most cases, it is used to refer to addictive and uncontrolled use or abuse of alcohol such that the health, relationships and social status of a person is eroded. Due to its negative effects on users, it is considered as a bad practice in the society. Alcoholism is contributed by many social issues concerning users as well as society and is largely accepted as a social deviance behavior. However, according to Schneider (1992), deviant drinking has been

Many adults can enjoy a drink or two from time to time without any issues, but just one drink can cause over seventeen million Americans’ lives to spiral out of control. Though most people do not have issues with drinking alcoholic beverages, many have a condition which causes their brain to function differently when they consume alcohol. This disease can be deadly for both the alcoholic and those around them. Alcoholism can control someone’s life, and even though it is a societal issue that is still being addressed, more people are seeking treatment to better themselves. Alcoholism, excessive consumption of alcohol that results in dependence, is caused by genetics and environmental factors that result in harmful effects on the body of the drinker and the safety of society; however, therapy and support groups are helping alcoholics recover today, and medications undergoing trial could allow them to live normal lives in the future.

In Sacha Z. Scoblic’s essay, Rock Star, Meet Teetotaler, she recounts her societal struggles after coming out from troubles involving alcoholism. At the age of thirty-two, she had been a Teetotaler for six months and was meeting people at a restaurant in hopes of finding friends to be acquainted with her new found sobriety. However, when she declines an offer of wine, she displays conflict between her drinking and non-drinking self because she once conceived that entertainment could only be met through the consumption of alcohol. She portrays a desire for social acceptance, yearning to

Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. Alcoholism is a complex disease with physical, social and psychological consequences, but it can be treated through detoxification and anti-anxiety drugs. What will be explained in this essay is basically the history of alcohol, signs of one possibly being an alcoholic, possibilities to why one becomes an alcoholic, and treatments for it.

Chapter nine expands on the spousal role and incorporates the entire family system. As with any disease, the alcoholic will be a key issue in how the family operates, thinks, and feels. The chapter discusses these issues and brings up points of possible emotions that I found would be helpful for the family to be conscious of in their alcoholic relative and in themselves. Chapter ten is a piece written by a business man who initially fired alcoholics and later began to understand their plight as his own. The instances of death and suicide after the businessman fired the individuals led the businessman to drink himself but, later on, begin to help those with alcoholism deal with their issues and work to keep their jobs. Another important piece to this chapter is that the employer can have options once the alcoholic maintains the job. The Big Book even discusses how the employer could use the alcoholic as a liaison to help others in his workforce.

Alcoholism today is not considered as a moral failure, majority of the people view it as a disease. Alcoholism is a chronic primary and progressive disease and it can also be fatal in some instances. It is termed as a chemical disease as it breaks down in the stomach as well as bringing a different effect on the brain of the alcoholic as compared to a non-alcoholic. Alcoholism can be classified as a biological disease since the chemical predisposition of alcohol consumption is inheritable. Therefore, alcoholism should not be punished instead it should be treated. The reason behind classifying alcoholism as a disease is because the progression of alcohol dependence occurs through stages in a natural sequence .This progression is similar to that of the development of physical illnesses. In recent interpretations of alcoholism as a disease the focus is on the biological factors which differentiate alcoholics from nonalcoholics. This disease concept has led to development of the idea that those who abuse alcohol are often out of control and abstinence is the only method for treating this disease.

In this paper, I will compare my real world experiences at local Alcohol Anonymous’ (AA) meetings, which I attended while enrolled in this course with that in the movie, Thanks for Sharing. Both are based on the lives and experiences of recovering addicts of either substance abuse or sexual activity. This paper will cover the stories and lives of the characters involved. Stuart Blumberg directed the movie in 2012. All movie character references in this paper are taken directly from the actual movie.