Sparknotes or Reading?

[GarysGod]

When your assigned to read a book in class do you read it or hit up Sparknotes? I'm a beleiver in Sparknotes so thats how I roll.

[dlaxer]

sparknotes AND reading, cause with sparknotes there are a lot of points that you can miss . . .

[ekajsk8er]

Reading because there are a lot of points Sparknotes can miss also, and because I am a cheap, cheap man.

Edit:I used Spark Notes for the second half of MacBeth and did great on the test. It's a good tool but won't always give you certain details teachers will look for.
Better way of saying what I meant.

[slinkyspine]

watch the movie

[GarysGod]

Reading because there are a lot of points Sparknotes can miss also, and because I am a cheap, cheap man.

Sparknotes.com= FREE, its amazing

[ekajsk8er]

Sparknotes.com= FREE, its amazing

I love you.

[jedimasterPIMP]

I do the combo too, when i read sparknotes than read the book, i can read like 100 pages in about 15 minutes.

[rjattack19]

i attempt to go on sparknotes...but usually i get distracted and go on myspace or TLF...lol

[Orange]

I used Spark Notes for the second half of MacBeth and did great on the test. It's a good tool but won't always give you certain details teachers will look for.

[Despise Purity]

If I didnt like the book in HS and I knew we werent going to have a quiz on it the next class I would use spark notes to get the basic ideas. Id write down the characters and take notes on them, and any other information I found to be important. I would eventually read the book since I know theres going to be a few of the most random questions on the test that spark notes would overlook.

[Lax101]

At higher levels of academics, you really should not use Sparknotes.

When it comes to in class essays where textual evidence is needed, you are screwed. Also, when reading Sparknotes, you miss out on insidious themes of the book, along with analyzing the author's diction and tone.

If you read Sparknotes, great, you get a plot summary. But at levels of English classes where understanding themes and conceptual ideas is necessary, then Sparknotes is not the answer. Read it as a supplement to reading the book, so you cement down the plot, but you shouldn't read it alone.

[BeaverFondu]

Reading beacuse my teacher reads sparknotes and bases the tests of of what's not on sparknotes.

[HdGLaxWarrior]

I read them if I'm pressed for time. We had to read A Midsummers Nights Dream, and I didnt have that long. So I got it and did awesome on the test. My teacher is borderline retarded though.

[truste1]

Sparknotes for sure. Too bad the stupid book I'm reading in AP Bio isn't on there, so I've had to bs my way through all of the discussions.

[MeRattack]

i read the book b/c it was assigned for a reason and its not like their bad books(i liked catcher in the rye, lord of the flies, and their eyes were watching god is pretty good too), but the only reason i use spark notes is to thake the quiz before a test

btw-im not much of a reader, other than magizines

[franks2089]

What kind of question is this. Who reads entire books these days. I read what I can and fill in with sparknotes. So far this year I have used sparknotes for 2 full books didnt read any of the book

[truste1]

i read the book b/c it was assigned for a reason and its not like their bad books(i liked catcher in the rye, lord of the flies, and their eyes were watching god is pretty good too), but the only reason i use spark notes is to thake the quiz before a test

btw-im not much of a reader, other than magizines

Lord of the Flies was the worst book ever. That was assigned reading for the Freshmen Pre-IB English summer assignment. I hated it so much I downloaded the eBook and then had Microsoft Mary or whoever read it to me while I did other stuff.

[gigo567]

I just read, I finish books so fast. I usually finish them so fast that I have a week or two before I had to finish it.

[HdGLaxWarrior]

I read books. Like last year we had to read a book, and at the same time write a journal. And if I would've read Sparknotes, I wouldnt have passed.

[tkdlaxer]

normally i read cuz i'm amazing at reading. but if i'm really short on then i'll hit up spark notes everynow and then

[laxgod1790]

I am so lazy. I read like the first 3 chapters of the book and then sparknoted it. Its just soooo much easier. If you think your teacher is going to go for major detail I recommend reading but if your teacher is easy(like mine) then you can just read sparknotes.

[zachm90]

sparknotes. I haven't read a whole book since elementary school (i'm in 10th grade now).

[LiveAtWoodstock]

Dude I read fo sho. I don't like Spark Notes, you miss the good stuff in the book.

[YHSlax0506]

That reminds me, I have to go to 'read'. *types in sparknotes.com*

[The Chariot]

Really depends on the situation. I've used them on every book we've had to read for AP US History, and ive gotten nothing below a 90, and I'll use it for The Jungle too because the tests on these books aren't deep AT ALL.

As for books for English... not so much. I gotta read those.

[Canadian Lax]

[QUOTE=slinkyspine]watch the movie[/QUOT



^^^^^ its the only way to go. OR just ask other ppl what the book is about, and copying thier notes


p.s 300th post :thumbsup:

[Monzo]

I think reading is the way to go but sparknotes can help to highlight the main points of whatever you're reading.

[HdGLaxWarrior]

[QUOTE=slinkyspine]watch the movie[/QUOT



^^^^^ its the only way to go. OR just ask other ppl what the book is about, and copying thier notes


p.s 300th post :thumbsup:

Watching the movie is the worst idea. Usually there are things that are different.

[The Chariot]

[QUOTE=Canadian Lax]

Watching the movie is the worst idea. Usually there are things that are different.
Way way different. Like, if you were to watch the movie for Les Miserables, you would have failed failed failed the test, or at least the one I took for it.

[lax4life6]

i like to read if its a story im interested in and i read really fast. usually teachers give us a choice of a book so i'll read a stephen king book. long but very good books

[HdGLaxWarrior]

Yeah, like lax4life6 said if the book is interesting I'll read it. If it's boring to me I'll get sparknotes.

[sammyduelist]

Reading beacuse my teacher reads sparknotes and bases the tests of of what's not on sparknotes.
thats smart teacher
ild rather not take chances
ild just read

[flyersrule9733]

Yeah, like lax4life6 said if the book is interesting I'll read it. If it's boring to me I'll get sparknotes.

dang u read my mind, i was gonna post that!!

[ColtsLax]

both, it may work now, but it will all catch up to you in college.

and watching the movie is not a good way to go(exception is Gettysburg and Killer angels)

For instance, Michal Chritons timeline was made into a movie, we had a test, everyone who saw the movie failed, everyone who read passed.

[truste1]

I used Spark Notes for the second half of MacBeth and did great on the test. It's a good tool but won't always give you certain details teachers will look for.

Sparknotes is where it's at. I didn't read any of Macbeth, and then read the sparknotes for the first four acts.

I got a 100 on the test. :)

[ben1113]

I read because my teacher is a down to earth teacher. She knows that kids read notes and she goes on to cliff and spark notes and makes the essays specifically about something that they didn't mention. I am not just taking her word on it, i read notes the first test and it wasn't too good. It isn't that hard to read a book guys.

[Postal]

sparknotes has never let me down

[Dadabhoy_Muzzi]

I do both. This year for Grade 11 English we had to read Animal Farm. I read the book first then went on spark notes and went over it so I could understand it. Its useful if you don't understand the material you are reading.

[LaxBoy92]

I read the book, and the day before a test I read sparknotes.

[truste1]

I do both. This year for Grade 11 English we had to read Animal Farm. I read the book first then went on spark notes and went over it so I could understand it. Its useful if you don't understand the material you are reading.


Wow, that was assigned to us in 8th grade. It was a good book I'd say, but the movie wasn't that great.

[Dadabhoy_Muzzi]

Wow, that was assigned to us in 8th grade. It was a good book I'd say, but the movie wasn't that great.

Yeah the book was good. We haven't watched the movie and I doubt we will. We already started Shakespeare.

[RockStar]

A few folks here have made good points that Sparknotes, Cliff's notes, Coles notes (for Canadians), are little better than useless in college.

A college English professor reviewing your essay can easily tell whether or not you've actually read the book. If you write something based only on reading the cheat notes, well, you might pass, but you can expect a lot of D+ to C- type grades.

(Of course, if you're not taking English courses in college, and are just cheating your way through high school this doesn't matter as much. Note though that even most high school English teachers can spot a cheat-notes essay!)

Funniest thing is that if used in place of the books, the cheat notes don't even save you all that much time.....you're far better off to just quickly read the damn book and skim the cheat notes afterward to clear a few things up, and give you ideas for your essays or how to answer exam questions.

Bonus - some of the books you're asked to read are actually pretty good if you give them a chance.

[MNM19]

I wrote an essay on Lord of The Flies without ever reading the book. I read the entire sparknotes.com summary, and i got an 89 on my essay. Sparknotes= making lazy people, even lazier

[PearlJam9]

spark notes are the key to passing english i dont think ive read any assinged books i always get the spark notes and i manage to hold a B in that class

[surf & lax4life]

pinkmonkey.com is way better then sparknotes

[MrTibs]

Sparknotes and pinkmonkey were my best friends in highschool. Man, i saved so much time just goin ont here instead of reading.

[Brandon303]

Sparknotes...Reading is for chumps.

[GBaschski]

Lord of the Flies was the worst book ever. That was assigned reading for the Freshmen Pre-IB English summer assignment. I hated it so much I downloaded the eBook and then had Microsoft Mary or whoever read it to me while I did other stuff.

I hated that book, too...I did read the whole thing though. Miracle Worker is up next, not excited at all.

[WSWDpole33]

go sparknotes, i hate reading, i have other things to do than read a book we end us discussing in class neways, ill rather run outside n stay active than sit in home readin a dumb book