Re: In search of User Perspectives on Catcher in the Rye

helena kim (helena@apollo.netsoc.tcd.ie)
Thu, 03 Dec 1998 02:27:01 +0000 (GMT) 

On Tue, 1 Dec 1998, Emily Friedman wrote:

> First of all I do not only read great literature, although some of the
> current novels I read might be someday.

i was so utterly convinced that you said this that i went back in the
archives to confirm it. i owe you an apology, liz. you said 'i live for
great literature'. i was wrong.

> It is all a matter of
> taste > helena. I have never used Cliff notes because I really do not
> like
> them. My current English teacher shares my opinion.While reading
> Julias Ceaser I almost used them but I stopped myself and I was proud
> of myself afterwards for getting through the book eithout using cliff
> notes. 

hmm. this may be a case of differing educational systems. where i live you
are judged on one final exam; similar to the a levels they have in the uk,
or the HSC in australia. for my honours english paper, iirc, my set
reading
was one shakespearean play (set), one modern play (choice of eight), one
classic novel (set), and one
modern novel (choice of eight), a selection of about 8 poems each from
about 10 poets. 

this is over a period of two years. then, at the end of it all, in two 2
and a half hour exams
on the same day, you answer one drama question, one novel question, one
poetry question, and an essay, all a minimum of 800 words, plus do a
reading comprehension of a few thousand words.

so there isn't much room for pondering and hashing out questions. you have
to know your material inside out, and be able to sit down, in 40 mins, and
write a well thought out logical argument about a random question on the
piece, providing quotes, references, the lot. [1]

this is where i believe study notes are helpful. you *will not* be able to
do the task i described above, for example, using silas marner, unless you
have *some* sort of in-a-nutshell help. i'm not saying you shouldn't read
the book, but it certainly helps pick out important themes and issues.

> I have heard too many people say that they did not read the
> books assigned in class, but read the Cliff notes instead. This to me
> is sad because they are really ruining the experience for themselves.
> Maybe some people really do get a lot of use out of them and that is
> great, but personally I would never use them. There is nothing self
> rightous about it, it's just how I personally feel.

fair enough!
                                         :helena kim

[1] this is, of course, an abominable way of running things. i rarely got
anything less than a b1 (b+) during my entire high school career. i was in
the middle of an unrelated personal crisis during the two weeks of my
exams. english was the first exam; i ended up getting a c. which is a
shame really, because i know a multitude of big and predominantly useless
words, and my spelling really isn't bad either. :)

two years of nifty english grades and nowt to show for it. so be it.

                     helena at netsoc dot tcd dot ie
           'the church is near, but the road is icy.
         the bar is far, but i will walk carefully.'
                                   - russian proverb