Cliffs Notes: My Ántonia

My dad thinks he is pretty clever. Today I was excited to receive a package from him in the mail, but I didn't even have to open it up before I realized what it was. I'd recognize these severe black stripes juxtaposed against a gold background anywhere.

He sent met the CliffsNotes for Cather's My Ántonia to remind me that next year I'll have students again, and some of them will prefer shortcuts. : )

I actually don't have a problem with Cliffs Notes. Right inside the cover there's a message from Mr. Cliff Hillegass which concludes, "A thorough appreciation of literature allows no short cuts. By using Cliffs Notes responsibly, reviewing past criticism of a literary work, and examining fresh points of view, you can establish a unique connection with a work of literature and can take a more active part in a key goal of education: redefining and applying classic wisdom to current and future problems." Sounds good to me, Cliff. (I'd like to ask him to elaborate on what he means by "classic wisdom," but he's dead, so I can't.)

I like that Cliffs Notes get students to begin thinking about the implications of a text instead of just focusing on plot points. Obviously, I would much rather have my students read the original texts in their entirety, but I'll definitely take a student who has consulted a study guide over one who hasn't prepared for class at all. Students who are familiar with the book's content can at least participate in discussion. After a good classroom discussion, students who skipped the reading sometimes go back and read the source text. I think it's my responsibility as an educator to make them want to read the text rather than just requiring them to read it.

I do have a funny story, though, about SparkNotes (the free online study guides). When I used to teach Huck Finn, one of the questions on a reading quiz required the students to name a character. I used to tell them that if they couldn't remember the character's name, they could describe the character and still get partial credit. On one question, they kept writing "Tom's cousin." I had no idea where this came from. I looked back at the text to see if I had missed something, but it didn't say anything about the character being Tom's cousin. I went to the SparkNotes summary, though, which identified the character as Tom's cousin. I guess that relation is explained in Tom Sawyer, which I have never read, and so whoever wrote the Huck study guide added that info. I really enjoyed letting them all know that I caught them, and I left the question in every year. Showing the students that I was "onto them" was one of the things I enjoyed about being a high school teacher.

Mostly, though, my dad's gift reminds me that next year, I WILL get to have students again. I can't wait. My first year out of the classroom felt like a nice break because I could focus on my own interests again... but now, I really miss teaching. I'm thankful for the office job I have on campus that has funded my Master's degree, but I can't say I'll miss cross-referencing spreadsheets or pestering faculty members to approve their timesheets. I hope to have the opportunity to begin teaching undergraduates, but high school students have their own special charm, too.

This long, difficult journey all began for me back in 2000 because I really wanted to be a teacher. I left the classroom because I wanted to get better at teaching, and I can't wait to try my hand at it again now that I've done two straight years of advanced thinking about these texts.

Before I can get back to the classroom, though, I have to get through this Master's project. For the next week, it's back to Miss Willa. I think I have settled on which specific issues my paper will address, so now I just need to re-read The Professor's House before I can sit down to pound out the third installment of my Willa Cather Great War project.

(Cliffs Notes actually have some interesting parallels to Willa Cather. Their creator, Cliff Hillegass, was born in 1918, when My Ántonia was originally published. And guess where he lived and worked? Nebraska!)