IN ECSTASY TEACHING NOTES WEB.pdf - Fremantle Press

TEACHING NOTES 

fine independent publishing 

www.fremantlepress.com.au 

In Ecstasy 

Kate McCaffrey 

ISBN: 9 781921 361166 

PUBLICATION DATE: APRIL 2008 

Inspiration 

Drugs have always been of interest to teens, and books about 

drugs have been read in schools for decades. Go Ask Alice, 

published in 1971, was used extensively to deliver an antidrug 

message to the classroom. Purporting to be non-fiction, 

it tells the story of a young girl’s descent into the 1970s 

drug world. It was replaced in schools with Anna’s Story, 

published in 1996 — the tragic tale of Anna Wood, who died 

after taking one ecstasy pill. The message in both these books 

is clear — if you take drugs you die. 

But teenagers are an inquisitive and critical audience. They 

know when they are being patronised and they can sniff out 

falsehoods quickly. Most teenagers know people who have 

used, or use drugs, and many take drugs themselves. The 

simplistic message of the anti-drug literature — that taking 

drugs leads straight to ruination — ignores the fact that most 

drug users take drugs that make them feel good, and most survive the experience. What, 

crucially, young users may not do though, is give any thought to the long-term effects of 

drug use, or to the possibilities of what might go wrong. 

Little literature is available that accurately reflects both the appeal and the consequences 

of drug use from a teenage perspective. I wanted to write a book that kids would want to 

read, and give a realistic account of the attractive world drugs initially presents — and the 

ugly world of abuse that sits so close beside it. And I wanted to explore the question of 

why kids take drugs. And what compels them to do it again and again. 

In Ecstasy is a hard-hitting portrayal of teenage drug use, describing the slide from 

recreational use to abuse. It examines contemporary pressures on adolescents; explores the 

dynamics of a close teenage friendship and its unravelling; and emphasises the need for 

love, trust, attention and understanding. 

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Plot 

brief 

Sophie and Mia have been friends for ever, but that’s all about to change. When the 

girls take ecstasy at a party, just for fun, they start down a road they’ll have trouble 

leaving. Sophie has an early, bad experience and swears off drugs completely, but Mia is 

captivated. She is soon embroiled in a serious relationship with ‘hot’ Lewis, who shows 

her a life she’s only ever imagined. With the excitement of Lewis and his cool set of friends, 

Mia fails to provide the friendship and support Sophie needs in her time of crisis. And, in 

the face of Sophie’s disapproval of the drug-scene, Mia pulls even further away. 

Reality breaks into Mia’s dream world with the overdose and death of Tower, one of 

Lewis’ oldest friends. She discovers Lewis is not the person she believed him to be at all. 

Retreating to the sanctuary of home, Mia finds she may have burned her bridges. 

Alone and depressed, she is inexorably drawn back to the comfort of drugs. This time, 

unprotected by Lewis, she descends into a much darker and heavier pattern of abuse. 

Finally, at her lowest point, she suffers a psychotic episode and realises she must get 

out or be lost forever. Mia’s recovery is slow and painful. Her friendship with Sophie 

slowly rebuilds and her future looks brighter, but it is clear that the drugs have left her 

permanently changed — physically, mentally and emotionally. 

expanded 

Central to the plot is the relationship between Mia and Sophie. Chapter 1 depicts the two 

girls as ‘normal’ teenagers and establishes differences between them which may underpin 

the way people handle drug-taking differently, dependent on their psychological makeup. 

Sophie sees Mia as gregarious and entertaining. Mia feels like the poor cousin in the 

friendship, overwhelmed by Sophie’s beauty. 

As the story progresses we watch Mia slip further away from Sophie. The bond of their 

friendship is stretched to the point where at Tower’s overdose it snaps completely. Sophie, 

who once said confidently, ‘We’ll be friends forever,’ can only watch in horror as Mia is 

transformed into a person she doesn’t know at all. 

Prior to Tower’s overdose the reader is aware, even if all the central characters are not, that 

the friendship is disintegrating. Sophie says (p. 134), ‘So we were engaged in this farce. 

Still pretending we were best friends … I’d walk away with relief … waiting for him to 

drive her home.’ 

While many readers empathise with Mia, they can also see in the early stages that Sophie’s 

awareness, not clouded by drugs, is more reliable. Thus the reader is ahead of Mia’s 

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painful realisation after Tower’s death: ‘I felt deluded and deceived … I cried over Lewis, 

because he wasn’t the person I thought he was …’ (p. 161). 

She stops taking ecstasy for a while. But addiction is stronger than that, and after Sophie 

rebuffs her friendship in an instance of tragically bad timing, Mia talks herself back into 

the drug world. ‘It was a wonderful experience … Why had I stopped? I’d fallen for the 

hype and scare tactics.’ (p. 175). 

Sophie recognises the importance of their friendship too late. Mia has already hooked up 

with Glenn and a very different drug world to the essentially middle class one that Lewis 

introduced her to. This one is full of addicts and dealers, seedy apartments and debauched 

sex. 

Oblivious to all but the world of ecstasy, Mia has eyes wide shut to the degradation. It is 

only after a psychotic episode that she sees where she is and desperately tries to find her 

way back. 

Narrative Structure 

The story is told through alternating chapters by the two girls. Mia’s is told in the present 

tense, as it occur to her in the moment, and without any perspective. Sophie’s takes us into 

the back story and is told in the past tense, with the benefit of insight and hindsight. 

Sophie is thus able to judge and comment on what Mia is describing, and evaluate her 

own role in the events. In this way Sophie can act as a moral arbiter, in a voice teenagers 

can to relate to, since it has none of the patronising tone that might be suspect in a teacher 

or parent trying to convey the same information. 

The time difference also allows for parallels between the two girls’ story telling. Thus 

Mia’s comment on having sex so easily with Lewis, ‘I was starting to feel a bit stupid’ (p. 

80), parallels Sophie’s admission, ‘I felt so stupid’ (p. 66), regarding splitting up with Dom 

because of her lie. 

Sophie’s lie — which was based on peer pressure and needing to project an image for 

acceptance — drives the first part of her narrative. Mia essentially falls in the same trap — 

ecstasy gives her a confidence that Sophie, a victim in her own right, cannot see. 

The alternating perspectives also allow for parallels between the two girls’ differing drug 

experiences. After Sophie’s night of terror, Mia’s next chapter begins ‘I woke up feeling like 

it was Christmas.’ Sophie is dealing with an unimaginable reality and Mia in her ecstasy 

is enveloped by her chance to be the girl she’s always admired and is oblivious to her best 

friend’s plight. 

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Lewis’s party draws them together. Both crave to have the friendship back, but realise 

things have changed, and neither will admit it. Their estrangement reduces Sophie’s voice 

in later chapters, and the new world Mia occupies now arouses her mother’s attention — 

and ultimately sends her running to her father’s, where she has carte blanche to do as she 

pleases. 

Once Mia enters rehab, Sophie is able to re-enter her life and offer the friendship and 

support needed. This concluding chapter offers hope. The friendship is rekindled, the 

promise, though shrouded in uncertainty, is there. 

Characters 

THE GIRLS 

Outwardly confident and beautiful, Sophie hides her own insecurities, which, hidden, 

exert a force over the events of the novel. Even so, Sophie is the voice of reason, of 

hindsight and often judgement. She extracts herself from danger and tries to take Mia with 

her. ‘It’s called self preservation — I learnt about it in biology’ (p. 167). 

Mia, the self-deprecating introvert, discovers the version of herself that Sophie sees — 

funny, gregarious — only through the drugs. And that is hard for her to let go of; she 

thinks she can’t achieve it without ecstasy. Ultimately, this desire to be the ‘other’ Mia is 

what drives her back into the drug world, despite Tower’s death. 

Why do the two girls handle things so differently? Focus on family, self esteem, the desire 

to belong. 

THE MOTHERS 

We see Mia’s mother from Mia’s perspective. Initially she is sympathetic and sees her 

mother as abandoned and fragile, but ultimately she feels abandoned as her mother and 

Sophie move on without her, and we see her view switch to one of sheer hatred (p. 192). 

‘She was such a small person, scurrying around wiping bench tops …’ 

But it is her mother she calls when she escapes from Glenn’s (p. 221). ‘I watched mum 

get out of the car, her dressing gown flapping behind her like a cape …’ Her mother, her 

rescuer, never judges her as she takes her home, cleans her up and gets her to a doctor. Mia 

ultimately realises the depth of her mother’s unconditional love (p. 241), and how warped 

her own perspective was when she was on drugs (p. 256). ‘The house seemed so big and 

welcoming … I had run from this haven to the squalor of Glenn’s flat.’ 

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Mia views Sophie’s mother (p. 30) as ‘a mega control freak … we both hate her.’ But 

Sophie’s self esteem is largely based on her mother’s love and admiration for her. 

She admires her mother and wants to please and keep her approval (p. 46). ‘When I think 

about all the times I’ve heard my mum talk about me to her friends — about how I know 

myself, about how strong and smart I am — if she knew, she’d never look at me in the 

same way again and that’s more than I could handle.’ And later (p. 54), ‘I became the 

confident person my mum always thought I was.’ 

THE BOYS 

Lewis and Glenn demonstrate some of the ways in which young girls can be easily 

manipulated by boys. Lewis hides behind his upper-middle class background, but is no 

different from Glenn. Mia eventually realises this, as she says in defence of Glenn (p. 188), 

‘he wasn’t so different from Lewis. In fact really he was more honest because he didn’t 

hide behind some bullshit image.’ 

Dom demonstrates to Sophie that there are guys who won’t manipulate girls for their own 

ends. He represents up-front honesty and a balanced power relationship based on liking 

and mutual respect. 

Discussion topics 

Perception 

Mia and Sophie think of each other as best friends, but how well do they really know one 

another? Each sees the other as a particular kind of person, but their self-perception is 

quite different. 

• Does Mia and Sophie’s relationship reflect a normal disjunct or is it fatally flawed? 

• If Sophie and Mia had been more honest with each other how might things have happened 

differently? 

• Do you feel your friends/family/teachers really know you? 

• Is the ‘you’ you show to the world the same as your ‘inner you’? 

drugs in society 

There are many kinds of drugs in common use throughout society, from coffee and 

cigarettes to heroin and crystal meth. 

• Why are some drugs acceptable and others not? 

• Who decides which drugs should be legal and which drugs illegal, and how? 

• How have attitudes towards different drugs changed over time? 

• Which drugs cause the most problems in society? How can their effects be gauged? 

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ecstasy 

Ecstasy is a manufactured drug. It is relatively new to the market though it has been in 

existence for nearly a century. 

• How much do you know about ecstasy, its use and its history? 

• What is in ecstasy and how is it made? 

• How does ecstasy produce its effect? 

• What are the physiological impacts of ecstasy? 

• How does ecstasy differ from other drugs? 

Drug abuse 

Many people take drugs but only some become addicted. 

• Is all drug use drug abuse? 

• What is it that makes some people more susceptible to drug use than others? 

• What methods of rehabilitation are currently used? How effective are they? 

• What is an overdose? 

• What should you do if someone is overdosing? 

Anti-drug Campaigns 

Governments have long worked to counteract drug use with varying degrees of success, 

from legislating against use (eg. ecstasy) to advertising against use (eg. tobacco). 

• How effective do you think current anti-drug work is? 

• How could governments more effectively target you? 

Other resources 

• Australian Drug Foundation, www.adf.org.au 

• www.reachout.com.au 

• www.kidshelp.com.au 

• www.turningpoint.org.au 

• www.druginfo.adf.org.au 

• www.beyondblue.org.au 

• www.somazone.com.au 

• www.addict-help.com 

• www.drug-rehab.ca 

• www.drugs-info.co.uk 

• www.talktofrank.com 

Major Task: Essay Writing 

Complete the worksheets on characterisation and issues as preparatory work for an essay 

on the novel In Ecstasy. 

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Issues 

Reading Outcome 

The main issues discussed in the novel In Ecstasy include drug use, family relationships, 

self-perception and friendship. Explain each issue in your own words and support your 

ideas by using examples from the novel. You will need to consider the characters involved, 

the conflicts they face and resolutions that emerge. Include textual references where 

possible. 

drug use 

family relationships 

self-perception 

friendships 

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Character Challenge 


Choose four characters from the novel, including Mia and Sophie, the main characters. From 

the following list match five adjectives that are appropriate to the specific characters. Write 

a dictionary definition for the adjective to ensure you understand the meaning of the word. 

Provide evidence from the text to support your idea. Write the example in quotation marks 

and record the page it appears on. Then explain in your own words how the adjective and 

the example are linked. If you wish to use an adjective that is not on the list feel free to do 

so, but you may only use each adjective once throughout the exercise. 

ADJECTIVES: 

• indifferent 

• accepting 

• inquisitive 

• curious 

• astounded 

• compassionate 

• brave 

• obnoxious 

• insensitive 

• brash 

• persuasive 

• cowardly 

• aggressive 

• sensitive 

• intelligent 

• callous 

• spoilt 

• selfish 

• indulgent 

• resentful 

• jealous 

• envious 

• repressed 

• shy 

• generous 

• rebellious 

• trustworthy 

• boastful 

• friendly 

• humorous 

• conniving 

• spiteful 

• ignorant 

• naive 

• kind 

• dutiful 

• helpful 

• emotionless 

• melancholy 

• reserved 

• self-conscious 

• impatient 

• deprived 

• exceptional 

• reckless 

• petty 

• calm 

• deceitful 

• manipulative 

• cruel 

• gregarious 

• impulsive 

• confident 

• obliging 

• lackadaisical 

• belligerent 

• amicable 

• tenacious 

• affable 

• surly 

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Character Comparison 

We learn a lot about the characters Mia and Sophie through what they convey about 

themselves in their own chapters. We also learn about them from what the other says. 

Their views of other characters are vastly different too. Create a Venn diagram where you 

compare and contrast their own self perception against the other’s view of them. 

Make sure you make a statement and support it with evidence from the text. 

You could also create a Venn diagram showing Mia and Sophie’s differing opinions of the 

other characters—Lewis, Glenn, Dom. 

Mia vs Sophie 

Mia 

Sophie 

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Character Challenge 


Character Name: Mia 

Adjective and Definition 

• Anxious: worried and 

tense because of possible 

misfortune. 

Textual reference and page 

number 

• ‘I stood slightly behind 

Sophie on the street 

verge clutching a pack of 

vodka cruisers…’ (p11) 

Explanation 

• Mia is socially insecure 

and relies on Sophie to 

‘lead the way.’ She is too 

frightened to do things 

on her own. 

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Student Brief 

TASK 7: Essay writing 

OUTLINE: Write an essay examining how the 

narrative structure of in ecstasy lends to the 

reader’s understanding of character. 

HOW LONG WILL YOU NEED ? 

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: 

STAGE ONE: 

Complete character challenge and form groups to discuss and share ideas about the main 

characters in the text. 

In groups draw an A3 sized chart showing how attitudes and values are related to the content 

of the novel. 

STAGE TWO: 

Revise essay writing skills and examine the essay question. 

Using class notes including comprehension question answers, plan and draft an essay 

response to the question. 

STAGE THREE: 

Peer edit your essay draft 

Produce a final copy. 

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