In "My Addicted Son" by David Sheff, Sheff does an excellent job of using many elements of a memoir to relay to his readers his feelings and to create similar feelings in his readers. This type of story appeals to all different types of people. I’m sure that it is especially relevant and meaningful to people who have dealt with a family member who has struggled with drugs, but it is a topic that can touch almost anyone. Even before his introduction Sheff uses his title as an opportunity to make it clear to the readers what the article is about. Often I think that more creative titles would be more interesting, but I think that a simple, direct title was definitely a good way to go for this article because it put the readers in the right mindset before beginning to read. I like how Sheff uses a specific story to grab the readers' attention and give the readers a sense of the story that will follow. Telling a short story that was not at the beginning of his son's problems allowed Sheff to introduce his readers to the recurring theme of relapse that would be throughout the story. Sheff does a good job of recounting the events of his son’s struggles with drugs. He uses a lot of description and specific examples and instances to recount his experiences. I think that Sheff’s use of dialogue is his best tool in creating the feeling that he wants in his reader. These dialogues are a great insight into what was going on with his son, Nick. Many of them reveal Nick distancing himself from his father and the rest of his family. I hope to use dialogues in my own personal narrative. At times, Sheff also uses them to display Nick’s unwillingness to try to get help and clean himself up. In my own Sheff also goes into great detail about the emotions that he was feeling. I thought that one of the most powerful parts of the article was when Sheff talks about blaming himself and all of the things that he wishes he had done differently that could have changed the direction that Nick’s life took. I thought that the most moving part of the article is where Sheff includes an excerpt from a journal that Nick kept at one of the rehab facilities that he spent time at. In this excerpt, Nick talks about not knowing how his life fell apart. Hearing something directly from Nick about the frustration and difficulty of the situation was especially touching to me. Finally, I like how Sheff ends the article in a very positive and promising way. Instead of focusing on his worries about another relapse he focuses on the positive things that are occurring in Nick’s life.
