• Sparkega@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Before the internet, Cliff Notes were popular books that summarized and provided insight into meaning for classical literature. Students used them in place of reading the actual book.

    • edgemaster72@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I completely missed that on the table until you pointed out, and was highly confused as to what he actually did

    • chetradley@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I vividly remember getting the cliff notes for “Of Mice and Men”, realizing it was nearly as long as the actual book, and begrudgingly hammering through the book the night before the test.

      • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Steinbeck had a knack for saying a lot with a little. “The pearl” is another of his works that is also incredibly short but you could easily discuss it well past its length.

        I highly recommend the “grapes of wrath” to anyone who hasn’t read it as well. Its account of the brutal knock on effects of the dust bowl and the nature of human kindness and sadism left a mark on my life that never left.

    • Gutek8134@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      In Poland, we still do read this type of things instead of the actual book, because it’s better at preparing you for the exams

    • Farid@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      The only reason I know the contents of most classic literature is because of “So You Haven’t Read” series on YouTube.

        • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
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          1 year ago

          My biggest problem with Thug Notes is all the people (closet racists) taking the Thug part seriously and saying dumb shit like thanking them for making literature available to “people of color.” Now I’m wondering if they ever tried to branch out and have the presenter drop the caricature.

          • gerbler@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            The actor drops character from time to time when he’s using long sentences and you catch a glimpse of exactly that. I’d love to see him do other stuff as well though. Thug aside, he’s legitimately awesome at breaking down subtext for dumb dumbs like me to get.

    • JakenVeina@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      The book on the table has the telltale Cliff Notes branding imagery. Cliff Notes is a company that was real big in the 90s and 00s (not sure how big these days) for making short summaries of famous novels, including plot points and themes. Everything you would need to write a competent essay on the book. They’re notorious for allowing high school kids to get through literature classes without actually doing the reading work.

  • regdog@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    How does the book suddenly appear on the table in the second frame? It could not have been obscured by the the man’s jeans, because he is still wearing them in the first frame.

    • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      That’s actually the entire joke of the comic, that he had her cliff notes in his jeans. He’s trying to explain “I was just supplementing my reading and understanding” when she cut him off and walked out for reading her cliff notes in the first place

  • udon@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    At some point you realize that many of the classic books are just… really good books! The terrible part is what they do to them in literature class. But many of those old books have become classics for a reason.

  • whoisearth@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Some teachers allowed coles notes and some didn’t but was anyone else a member of the gang whose parents couldn’t afford coles notes so you never had that leg up and only had the source material or a friend you could borrow off if you were lucky?