SparkNotes is not a substitute

SparkNotes is reading without really reading thats how I think is the best way to describe it in my own words. I think SparkNotes is a good idea for reading incredibly long novels and you can not follow what is happening in the book. But you should only sparknote a few chapters if you are behind on reading. Sparknotes should be used used along with the reading to help you better understand the text you are reading. Sparknotes only focus on the main points in the story not the novel as a whole.


SparkNotes take away from the experience of reading the book for yourselves. Sparknoting is good in the way it can help you focus on the main points of a chapter. But is also bad because of that same reason because that is the only thing you get from the spark notes. Sparknotes take away from the actual reading because you just have the climax of the the chapter and very little or nothing leading you up to that point. In conclusion sparknotes are not a substitute for reading the text but they are an aide in helping you understand it.

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes This the wikipedia page for Langston Hughes

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83 This gives a bio on Langston Hughes similar to the wiki

http://www.redhotjazz.com/hughes.html Another bio and list of poetry

http://www.poemhunter.com/langston-hughes/ Apperantly all of Langston Hughes' poems

http://www.kansasheritage.org/crossingboundaries/page6e1.html Most of these are biographies

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/langston-hughes bios gallore

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/langston_hughes Hughes' best poems I will let you be the judge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance The Era Langston Hughes helped make great

http://www.biography.com/tv/classroom/harlem-renaissance Background info on the harlem Rennaissance

http://www.cswnet.com/~menamc/langston.htm Possibly Langston Hughes most famous Poem a Dream Deferred

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/hughes/aa_hughes_subj.html A short profile on Langston Hughes

http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/langston.html a selection of Langston Hughes Poems

http://www.nsm.buffalo.edu/~sww/poetry/hughes_langston.html List of Langston Hughes Poems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou Was influenced by Langston Hughes

Musical inspiration

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This link is a to the song Strawberry Swing by Frank Ocean. This Song represents the theme of the The DreamKeeper because it has that soft spoken light and happy side to go about life to but a smile on your face even when things are looking down thin is seen especially in the 2nd verse Say hello, then say farewell to the places you know
We are all mortals, aren't we? Any moment this could go
Cry, cry, cry, even though that won't change a thing
But you should know, you should hear, that I have loved
I have loved the good times here, and I will miss our good times

The Artist sings these lines so well you can't help but smile

21st Century schzoid man

I personally like the concept of the 21st Century English classroom that consists of blogging, tweeting and, facebooking because it keeps students realitivly interested about what they are doing,opposed to just writing papers and reading books. English is probaly my least favorite subject because of all the papers and reading. But I am what I believe to me a semi-active user of Twitter and Facebook so when I heard we would be blogging I figured that would mean a "post here a post there" But I forgot this was an English class. I wish that the blogs were more of the Twitter set up where you are limited to a certain number of characters.         I believe that the Twitter and Facebook help with a students understanding because the students use these sites everyday. The main diffrence about the way i approched the novel when ever i had free time is when i would read. This is diffrent than the the way an English teacher would assign a chapter they would want you to .