{"id":1941,"date":"2011-11-06T00:13:25","date_gmt":"2011-11-06T05:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?p=1941"},"modified":"2011-12-12T08:02:41","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T13:02:41","slug":"the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/11\/the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes\/","title":{"rendered":"The pros and cons of Sparknotes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mark Gorte
\n<\/strong>off the record<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

OVERVIEW:<\/strong>
\nNo matter how many students complain, whine, or argue, they will always be required to read the \u201cclassic\u201d literary pieces of time. Whether it is Old Man and the Sea or the romantic Romeo and Juliet, reading these books requires a lot of time and memorization of random facts. There are students who would do anything to read as little as possible, and for those students their savior comes the in the form of the World Wide Web. More specifically, the websites of Sparknotes and Shmoop.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER ONE:<\/strong>
\nSparknotes is a website that provides study guides for subjects like literature, poetry, history, film, philosophy, math, health, physics, biology, chemistry, economics and sociology. Sparknotes also has content and services related to the SAT, ACT, and AP testings. Adding to the wealth of information is a section students can use to search for colleges. The most popular use of Sparknotes is their chapter summaries, which give users the basic outline of a story. These quick reads are becoming more and more popular with students since the site\u2019s launch in 1999. However, contrary to many teachers\u2019 beliefs, there are students who actually read the assigned books.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that I use Sparknotes to better understand what I\u2019ve already read,\u201d junior John Brandon said. \u201cI use it more as a study guide.\u201d<\/p>\n

CHAPTER TWO:<\/strong>
\nBrandon isn\u2019t the only frequent user of Sparknotes or Shmoop. Sophomore Michael Nigro uses such websites as a crutch in case he forgets to read, or doesn\u2019t finish his assigned reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I read parts of the book but I\u2019ll go to Sparknotes if I don\u2019t read the full chapter or the full section I was supposed to,\u201d Nigro said.<\/p>\n

The easiness of reading one page over thirty becomes more and more appealing. And once one has gotten themselves into the habit of using Sparknotes regularly, it can be hard to break away from its grasp. In fact, Nigro claims the last time he actually read an assigned book was in seventh grade.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER THREE:<\/strong>
\nUsing Sparknotes or Shmoop alone without actually reading the book isn\u2019t always the best way to get a good grade. Some students like Brandon think that teachers are aware of what is on Sparknotes or Shmoop and construct their quizzes and tests around information not given out online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the quizzes [teachers] write you can\u2019t use Sparknotes for,\u201d Brandon said. \u201cEven if you use it, without reading it\u2019s not that useful.\u201d<\/p>\n

This especially comes into play when a teacher asks specifics about a chapter, such as a quote or a minor detail that occurred in the chapter.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER FOUR:<\/strong>
\n\u201cYou get the basic plot of the story,\u201d junior Emma Trager said. \u201cBut anything beyond that is lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trager is familiar with the online \u201cstudy guides\u201d but she avoids using either Sparknotes or Shmoop. Trager would rather take the time to read the book, because she is looking out for herself down the road when the talk of tests begins to emerge in the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you use Sparknotes you\u2019re not getting important details, and the symbols you\u2019re going to need to write a paper,\u201d Trager said. \u201cIn the end, you\u2019re not going to know everything you need to know to write a paper.\u201d<\/p>\n

CHAPTER FIVE:<\/strong>
\nStudents aren\u2019t the only ones who know about Sparknotes. English teachers throughout DHS are more than up-to-date on Sparknotes. And each teacher has their own opinion of the online study guide.<\/p>\n

\u201cSparknotes can be a valuable resource for students, but not a supplement for reading the real text,\u201d English teacher Sarah Hechlik said. \u201cI would never encourage it over reading the text itself. All emotional quality is left out of a Sparknotes summary. You don\u2019t get the same feeling, or the author\u2019s intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those students who think that teachers can\u2019t tell if they read Sparknotes instead of the book then they are unfortunately incorrect.<\/p>\n

\u201dI can totally tell when a student is solely using Sparknotes,\u201d Hechlik said. \u201cThey can\u2019t or don\u2019t reference specific quotes in their notes, they only regurgitate Sparknotes ideas and analysis, their discussion lacks detail and usually they have a harder time writing essays about the book because they have to go back and search for passages or ideas that aren\u2019t \u2018obvious\u2019 or \u2018common.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS:<\/strong>
\nIn reality, virtually every high school student will submit to the allure of Sparknotes at least once. If only to help clear up a confusing chapter, these websites can be a valuable tool. But to get the full effect of a story, reading the book is a definite must. Even if the student must sacrifice their time, it will pay off in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students get savvy with technology to avoid doing assigned reading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[38,42],"class_list":["post-1941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-opinion-stories","tag-student-activities-dow-high"],"yoast_head":"\nThe pros and cons of Sparknotes - UPDATE ONLINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/11\/the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The pros and cons of Sparknotes - UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Students get savvy with technology to avoid doing assigned reading\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/11\/the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-06T05:13:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-12T13:02:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Update\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198\"},\"headline\":\"The pros and cons of Sparknotes\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-06T05:13:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-12T13:02:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":809,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Opinion Stories\",\"Student Activities Dow High\"],\"articleSection\":[\"OPINION\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes\\\/\",\"name\":\"The pros and cons of Sparknotes - UPDATE ONLINE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-06T05:13:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-12T13:02:41+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/the-truth-about-schmoop-and-sparknotes\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"UPDATE ONLINE\",\"description\":\"H.H. 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