About The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1990)
ABRAMS ALPS CINEMA $ ALPS SHOTPNG CENTER 548-5256 3 MEN AND A LITTLE LADY 1 10200310400510 b 00/ 15 8 00 9 IS 1000 <*■&! :kv v ] 15 /30945 yu,J ROCKY 12 4 5 3 00 5 MISERY 100 3 20 5 35 / 50 10 05 OUTtlOl THI MALL M MC CINEMA S-9 DANCES WITH WOLVES 100 4 30 0 00 HOME ALONE 1 152 153 154 155 15 6 15/15015915 10 15 • LENA OLIN 1 HAVANA .wans - TO P0Ll.tt(\DlM10IH' ? SYDNEY POLLACK ■ " : '™ ;,,DC,na: - The University Bookstore sells 300 to 400 copies every quarter. Clark used the notes when studying for a doctoral degree in literature to refresh his memory of 2 • The Red and Black / Finals • Monday, 1990 .— Cliffs Notes: Saviour to many stranded students By MICHAEL W. McLEOD Staff Writer They've been called “fast food for thought," prohibited by some tea chers and encouraged by others. For many students the familiar bright yellow and black design on the cover of ClifTs Notes can be a beacon that guides them through choppy academic waters — or a de tour sign to a dangerous short-cut. Either way the study guides are used, they are being used. ClifTs Notes, Inc., located in Lin coln, Neb., publishes the guides. The company reports more than 50 million of the notes, which are booklets containing summaries and commentary on more than 120 works of literature taught nation wide. University Bookstore manager Delores Slay said that 300 to 400 copieB are sold every quarter. The bookstore has carried the notes for more than 18 years and has a com plete line of titles. There is a “Cliflr behind Cliffs Notes, even though he’s never written any of his own notes. Clifton Hillegass, founder and president of Cliffs Notes, Inc., graduated from the University of Nebraska in the 1930s and held several other jobs before working for the Nebraska Book Company. At the advice of a colleague working in Canada, Hillegass began distributing copies of study guides to 16 of Shakespeare’s plays in the United States. Those first notes, sold in 1958, were the beginning of Cliffs Notes, Inc. The company now grosses more than $50 million yearly and has made Cliff Hillegass’ first name famous. The notes are written by English professors throughout the United States and some in other countries. They receive a flat fee of $1,500 to $2,000 for writing them, Cliffs Notes Editor Gary Carey said. Carey wrote the ClifTs Notes for William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” and Albert Camus’ ‘The Plague." He sees writing the notes as a chance for a teacher to extend his lectures on paper. “I get letters every single day," Carey said. “Usually when they (teachers) write to me they have a novel they've taught that they know is taught nationally. Or else a teacher feels a note could be im proved.” He welcomes submissions, al though the company is currently canceling some titles and not intro ducing many new ones. “There just aren’t that many new books being taught nation wide,” Carey said. He said that since 1972 the com pany has concentrated on offering more critical commentary than heavily detailed summary and as sumes the student has read the novel. “I suppose (the notes) can be harmful if misused. Recently a young teacher told me she only read the Cliffs Notes for “War and Peace,” and made an A on the test. I don’t see that happening.” Carey said he realizes there may be different interpretations of a novel than those offered in Cliffs Notes. He rejects commentary that “seems strung out on purely Freudian interpretations," and the like. James Clark, an assistant En glish professor, said Cliffs Notes are helpful if used appropriately to keep plotlines ana characters straight, along with suggesting criticisms. William Faulkner’s characters. "My only objection is the com mentary is very sketchy. Two or three paragraphs is not enough room to say much at all of meaning," he said. “Some students will rely totally on Cliffs Notes, depriving them of the pleasure of reading the text it self. Literature is a work of art using language. If you try to sum marize a Van Gogh, it wouldn’t work.” Give the Gilt o£ Flight Christmas GiSt Certificates available as b’low as $25 for | one introductory lesson. Call 543-IFLY Located in Colvin Aviation Hangar at Athens/ Ben Epps Airport Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You A gambler who trusted no one. A woman who risked everything. And a passion that brought them together in the most dangerous city in the world. Watch next winter to WIN!
