Cliffs Notes Go Online

Cliffs Notes have resurfaced into internet age. Being a forty something, I have Cliffs Notes memories based on brightly packaged yellow and black mini-books, the bumblebee of hope when confused by a piece of literature. In use, some students have read the notes versus actually reading the book. As a good reader, in my youth, I was full of disdain for this practice, seeing it as lazy and uninspired. C'mon, I'd think. Just read the book! However, life experience has taught me, that although there were certainly students who were doing this type of 'cheating', Cliffs Notes could be a life saver for those who struggle with comprehension or who don't have the background knowledge to really understand or appreciate Wuthering Heights or The Martian Chronicles. So, with that said, I've discovered Cliffs Notes have portaled themselves onto the 'net in a nice way.

They have a nicely organized site, for free. The site, Cliffs Notes.com, summarizes many classics in literature, and each summary of a chapter has a "commentary" tab, which reveals the subtext beneath the story. Quite a boon for those who simply, from working three jobs or a lack of preknowledge, don't quite "get it". There's also a neat online quiz, so you can quiz yourself on the story. I thought this was rather nice.

You could sign up for emails, or get nice instruction in a variety of subjects, math, science, etc. There are practice tests. The site also claims to help you review Shakespere in a flash. As a side note, Netflix.com has a nice collection of downloadable videos of Shakesperean plays. You have to go to the Instant section and choose special interest.

As an instructor, this could be tool for your students OR you could use it to brush up on this semester's reading, which you have chosen out of memory, but hey, who carries all the details of Antigone or Catch-22 in their head, ALL the time? Well, come on, perhaps we DO know a few who would do that, but, if you're like me, you actually like to see sunlight once in awhile. So don't be afraid, use the tools available, to prepare yourself, because a prepared teacher is a confident teacher, and a confident teacher will have a better time teaching.