Do you think websites like SparkNotes ruin literature or enhance it?

I use it so that I might fully understand it. I have found that even though I think I fully understand a passage, I have missed something by viewing SparkNotes and seeing what’s there. I don’t think that summaries should be used as a substitute for reading the actual work, however. You should read the work first and then look on SparkNotes to summarize what you just read and briefly analyze it so you can understand it better. At least, that’s what I do and I find that it works well. I know it might take a little longer, but being lazy is a choice.

I think they’re find as they are intended (and as you mentioned): as supplements to reading the material.
It’s when students replace the actual novel with the SparkNotes that the literature is ruined.

Edit: What he said ^

I bought a copy of SparkNotes: The Old Testament for &1.56 last week, and so far it’s awesome. It has certainly helped me understand individual stories in the bible much better, along with persistent themes, important characters, etc.

I believe every lit teacher has the obligation of letting their students know the wherefores of literature in the first place, even before they begin reading the first work. Students need to know that literature isn’t just a bunch of stories to read for a grade, but that in the reading, they can better understand themselves and each other and the ways of the world. SparkNotes aren’t going to bring that sort of epiphany to the student.

We had Cliff Notes when I was in middle and high school and the point of them was to make the main characters, plots and themes of the work clearer. Not reading the actual work means that one will miss something important the author meant to convey, nor will the work make itself truly relevant in the mind and heart of the student.

There’s a Sparknotes for the BIBLE??

I just tried one these sparknotes type sites, because I was reading Much Ado About Nothing on my own, and wondered if I were missing some deep and meaningful stuff. It didn’t help much.

Being forced to write about the book or discuss the book (or in this case play) is much better.

I don’t mean to quibble with semantics when I say that I don’t think they have any effect on literature at all. I don’t believe literature is in any way threatened by the fact that some people have developed summaries and shortcuts and some students avail themselves of them.

As to whether they help readers, that all depends on how they use them. They are no substitute for the experience of reading the work of a great author, any more than a 4” x 6” plate in an art book can convey the effect of standing before an actual painting. So much of the character and quality of a masterwork is in the style, the diction, the cadence, the pacing, the literary special effects, the richness and depth of language and allusion, and so on—the experience and perception that the author pours onto the page from his or her heart and soul: things no chapter summary can capture. Even the poorest reader must understand that literature is more than a series of events and actions of characters in a plot.

But if the notes can orient the reader, aid understanding, help organize your thoughts, and serve as a reminder, they can help you extract more from the work. Even a very good reader can find some benefit in using them as a study aid. The main danger I see is that it narrows your scope and limits you to one canned interpretation instead of opening you up to the multilayered possibilities.

Students who are in college for an “education” will use this resource as a reference to enhance their understanding of their reading. Students who are in college for a degree, no matter what it takes, will find this a valuable resource.

Forget literature. SparkNotes ruined the Spark. I mean, does anyone remember the science they used to produce over there? They were down in the trenches and hot on the trail of facts. Alas! The journalism of the Spark is now scattered across the internets.

the Stinky Meat Project

the Stinky Feet Project

The Internet Archive has saved the Fat Project and The Date My Sister Project thankfully.

Ideally, SparkNotes are meant as a study aid and supplement for literature. In reality, most students use it as a replacement for literature.

I was in high school 10 years ago and easily the smartest guy in the class, and even I occasionally had to take the Cliff Notes shortcut to finish a book report on time. If the guy with the highest grades was forced to skip the reading once in a while, how likely is it that the mediocre students will use book notes? In my lit classes, only a handful of the students didn’t use Cliff Notes.

Thinking back to college, I never used book notes of any kind. It wasn’t conscious, I think I just had a handle on my assignments. But in any case, I can’t think of anyone using Cliff Notes, SparkNotes, MonkeyNotes or any of the others. I think that at an undergraduate level, book notes just aren’t enough to get through a class and/or assignments. You have to actually do the reading.

So, do book notes ruin literature? Only on a low level, to those younger students who can actually get by using them. I pity them, because they’re missing out on something wonderful. Once you get on to serious literature, book notes are simply not capable of replacing all the things that make literature great.

On a side note: I’m working my way through The Fountainhead right now, and I imagine I’ll browse through a book note once I’m done. Having finished college, I don’t discuss literature in a group setting anymore, so it could be useful to see if I missed anything.

it depends on how you use it.
i’ve only used sparknotes once, because i simply could not finish fountainhead in the allotted time. that book bored, depressed, and annoyed me more than any other book ever. resorting to sparknotes though, it made me actually want to read it (i mean, if i didn’t know it was like a million pages longer than it should be). so in that situation, it basically helped a lazy student, but when we discussed the book in class the next day, i did feel like i had a steady handle on what we were talking about the entire time.
however, i don’t think sparknotes should be taken advantage of. i know people who wouldn’t finish huckleberry finn because the sparknotes was ‘easier’. come on.

If one is using it without reading the book, the it’s obviously ruining literature. However, it never hurts to have a summary!

It’s not doing anything to the literature. The literature will survive unharmed. It could be ruining your experience.

My students and I are really enjoying a new educational website called Shmoop

Shmoop has a much more pro-learning attitude. Their mission is “to make learning fun and relevant for students in the digital age.” Gotta love that! Shmoop’s writing is entertaining and accessible for students and adults alike. Shmoop cracks jokes, makes pop culture references, and links off to other interesting websites for further exploration. According to their website, Shmoop’s writers come from Ph.D. programs at top US universities, like Stanford, Harvard, and UC Berkeley.