Sai Baddipudi

AP English Language and Composition c

c
Webb

10/25/10

Annotated Bibliography: Synthesis Project

Source A
"Girl Moved To Tears By 'Of Mice And Men' Cliffs Notes." ï


 




. Aug.-Sept. 2006. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.theonion.com/articles/girl-moved-
to-tears-by-of-mice-and-men-cliffs-note,2029/>.

ThefollowingpassageabouttheUVAstudentreadingtheCliffsNotesinsteadofrea dingthebookwritt
enbyNobelwinnerJohnSteinbeckwasfirstpublishedinTheOnion,asatiricalsocialcommentaryon-
lineperiodical. It reflects how Cliff Notes is doing the thinking for her, and that students
nowadays no matter how short a novel maybe are using sources like Cliff Notes to do all the
work. This sources gives an example of how this generation is
indangerofnotbeingabletothinkforthemselves.

Source B
McPherson,John."Cliff Notes Inc.͟Universal Press Synd.(2004):Print.
This comic/cartoon pokes fun at how today͛sstudentstaketheeasywayoutinsteadofa
moretraditionalacademicapproach.It raises the question of whether or not
studentsrelytooheavilyonoutsideresourcesratherthanperseveringindependently.

Source C
Williams,Blanche."TheCliffNotesInformationAge."NiaOnline.2009.NiaEnterprises.1Jul 2009
<http:/ / www.niaonline.com/ ggmsblog/ ?p=692>.

Thefollowingarticledetailsthewayinwhichcliffnoteshaveaffectedsociety.This sources gives

information about how cablenetworksareproudparticipantsinthis
͞CliffNotes͟InformationAge. It brings the anecdote of how he/she didn͛twantor
havethetimetoreadthecompletebookin school and how
 he/sheusedtheCliffNotestogetthesummary.It bringsupthepoint that though
he/shemayhavepassedthetestbutneverfully
comprehendedtheentirestory,becausehe/shedidn͛treaditforhimself/herself. This source
defends that it is essential that people read for themselves and find out the whole story
because the media slices off parts of stories to fit their needs.

SourceD
Gamerman,Ellen."LegalizedCheating."The WallStreetJournal(2006):Print.

ThefollowingarticlewastakenfromThe
WallStreetJournalandaddressescheatingintheschoolsystem.It defends that
today͛sstudentstaketheeasywayoutinsteadofa moretraditionalacademicapproach, and that
adults are supporting this with the excuse of technological advancements Studentsrelying
tooheavilyonoutsideresourcesratherthanperseveringindependently, but it also shows the
positive impact using the internet or such sources as Cliff Notes has on grades and maybe even their
future.

Source E
"CliffNotesAds."Harvest.2009.HarvestMarketing.1Jul 2009
<http:/ / harvestmkt.com/ The_WorkCliffs_Notes.html>.

ThisgraphicwastakenfromHarvest͛swebpagefeat uringcollege
students͛creationsofsimple,impactfulads.
It purposely bring out the main function of Cliff Notes which is to help the student read less
and do less thinking for themselves. It shows both the good and bad side of the usage of Cliff
Notes, leaving it up for the reader to interpret whichever side they choose.

Source F
Grimes,Ginger."Spark NotesSuck!"TheAntiochHighSchoolTimes 13(2008):Print.

Thefollowingisaneditorialfromahighschoolnewspaperemphasizingtheeffectsofusingoutside
sourcesforhelp.This source outlines the pros and cons of using ͞SparkNotes͟
insteadofreadingbooks in the modern world. It suggests that using ͞SparkNotes͟
insteadofreadingbooks is stealing quality of their education and causing serious problems with
children in the realm of their attention spans and reading abilities in the future. The author is
clearly anti-͞SparkNotes͟ and wishes to push his agenda for students to stop using ͞SparkNotes͟
insteadofreadinga book.