by Peter Deegan

Created on: July 30, 2009

It is indeed interesting to hear that some folks feel that "Cliff Notes," the indispensable "down and dirty" quick outlines to major literary works, are somehow academically dishonest. While "Cliff Notes" will never be a substitute for reading the actual literary work, they can give the reader a sense of what is going on in the story.

I am sure that there are many who wear their "academic honesty" on their sleeve. We have seen them. They are truly ones to marvel at. They have read the full works of Shakespeare, Dante, and de Tocqueville and feel confident that they understood the text in entirety. They package and present their academic honesty in a smug wrapper. They are the ones that voted "no" to this argument about Cliff Notes.

However, there are many reasons why "Cliff Notes" versions are academically honest. Here are a few:

1. There is more information out there in cyberspace about literature than "Cliff Notes" could ever provide. There is discussion, commentary, and even pre-written papers on these works. So, if you choose the yellow and black booklet, are you really doing the old school version of Googling?

2. While on the subject of searching the topic, why does literature only get the academic "snobbery" that says you cannot find out more about it? If this were a business or social sciences topic, it is not dishonest to check out a "wiki" page or a website that talks in detail about a topic.

3. There is a focus on quantity over quality in today's educational world. Back in my college days, when typing was done more than word processing, you had to produce a number of pages. Today, their is a word count that is needed. To many of the students I speak with, there is increased pressure to produce written work with greater frequency. This is especially true with on-line classes where the discussion takes place virtually in forums.

4. Cliff Notes restates literature in common language. For those of us who have read Shakespeare but do honesty miss a few things due to the archaic 400 year old English that was used, having a resource that helps is a lifesaver.

5. In the real world, getting a summary of a report, detailed project or a lengthy document is the norm. Perhaps there are some who cannot wrap their minds around the fact that once they leave school, there will be quicker ways to present data and information. Why not start early?

So, those who cry Cliff Notes users are cheats or academic sloths need to zero in on what's important. I don't advocate using Cliff Notes over reading a book. However, as a companion that helps get you from reading text you don't understand very well to comprehension it does the job quite nicely, with your academic honesty in tact.

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