Chapter 7: Introduction: The Enduring Appeal of Cliffsnotes in Two Parts

Defend CliffsNotes? In these two articles, we will challenge the conventional criticism of study aids. Most teachers and professors dismiss them as bland shortcuts for students too lazy to read the assignments. “Instead of eating three meals a day, it’s like taking a multivitamin,” one English teacher claimed (Drennan, 1995). Novelist Alice Walker was blunter: “They’re terrible” (Study Guides, 2002).

And yet students continue to read them and access contemporary online iterations of the genre like SparkNotes, PinkMonkey, GradeSaver, and Thug Notes. Part of the appeal is savvy marketing. As Robert Hampel’s article demonstrates, the history of CliffsNotes is a story of adroit advertising. The company knew how to stir the hopes and fears of students unsure of their grasp of difficult assignments. But that’s only part of the story. Besides providing a quick summary of difficult texts for anxious students, CliffsNotes can enhance students’ opportunities to learn both the language of literary criticism and the specific habits of mind that experts use to comprehend literary texts.

Neither article is the typical research study. What we offer instead are our reflections after many years of studying the history of shortcuts (Hampel) and the cognitive processes that undergird students’ analyses of literary texts (Lewis). By viewing literary study aides through historical and cognitive lenses, we provide a context and rationale for reconsidering the place of study guides in contemporary curricula.