Tuesday, December 6, 2011

SparkNotes is Not a Substitute

SparkNotes and CliffsNotes are online sites that are meant to be used as study guides for learning more about what you are studying.  The sites offer study guides for many books, and those summaries include character lists, chapter summaries and analysis, essays about the themes and symbols in a book, character maps, and information on the author among other things.  I tried to look up Ship Breakers on both sites, but the book was not included in either site.  I have used these sites before, though, for other books I have read for school projects.
Both sites give a lot of good information on books.  I have used SparkNotes in the past.  Reading from the site really helped me to understand certain stories and their characters, plots, etc. when I didn’t really get the meanings that teachers expect me to get.  The sites are not meant to be a substitute for actually reading a book.  They are meant to supplement the book.  Reading the book gives you a better experience overall.  When you read the book, you get the mood of the story at a much deeper level than you would just reading the notes.  If you are enjoying the book, you can get totally immersed into the story.  You get all of the little details that make a story so good that a summary would not contain.  Reading the book also helps you get to be a better reader. 
While I would not just read the SparkNotes instead of reading an actual book, I am glad that they are there, because they have helped me a lot in the past.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with using them when you need them.  I feel like you would be passing up a good resource if you didn’t use them when you need them.  I am glad I read Ship Breakers.  It was a really good book.  It was interesting and caught my attention and my interest right from the start.  I didn’t ever feel like I needed to go to a site like SparkNotes or CliffNotes.  I just enjoyed reading the book.

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