<p>In English, do you guys actually read the book? For Example, all we need to do is write logs for our readings but most people just use sparknotes for that. I mean you can get away with it but when a test/quiz comes up then you're screwed. How do you guys manage to do well in English if you don't have much time to read the pages assigned?</p>
<p>Um...just do the reading. I mean, I think reading is something you could squeeze into your schedule more easily than most other things. Besides, reading is fun.
Sorry I'm not much help. I don't support people who don't read English books, though goodness knows there are plenty of people who have perfected the technique and could probably help you.</p>
<p>SparkNotes actually does a pretty good job. And it's not like reading takes long anyways. And no, reading is not fun!</p>
<p>I actually read it. For example, Great Gatsby is due Tuesday (had less than a week), and I only have a few pages left, though I'm totally busy with SAT II's.</p>
<p>For some novels/plays, we read them together in class and we had quizzes and reports, but for others, we had to read them on our own. That's when people started using sparknotes, so they wouldn't have to read the book.</p>
<p>Well, I can understand why SparkNotes might be easier if you're a slow reader, but if you're a fast reader, then English readings shouldn't be terribly time-consuming. And I agree with pinnipotto. Reading is much easier to squeeze into your schedule than many other things.</p>
<p>I read all the books for my English class. The tests my teacher gives are extremely detailed (quote identification, fill in a word missing from a quote, etc.) so Sparknotes doesn't help much.</p>
<p>I read all the books partly because of what rusoboy23 said above me and partly because I love reading in general and find it easy so English is just a slack-off class for me as long as I do read it.
It hasn't happened yet that I haven't had time to read it because I would end up putting other things off to read for English class.</p>
<p>^^Haha, exactly. I love doing stuff like that, or working on an EC, as an excuse to not focus on HW I'm not so eager to do.</p>
<p>One thing I will concede is that unlike some things, which one can churn out very quickly if necessary, even though this produces a crappy result, reading requires a certain amount of time. So if one doesn't keep on top of it, they can be left with literally not enough hours to read the book.</p>
<p>my english class very rarely does quizzes or tests on quotes, info, etc. Mostly, we just do in-depth analytical papers, so we're all kind of forced to read it for good quotes and supporting evidence.</p>
<p>We have to pick a quote and write a paper about it. My English teacher is such a pushover that we tell her what books we want to read and what parts of the book we want to read. I think we only read like 3 chapters of Huck Finn before we got bored and told her to move on to another book. My class is full of a**es who think they are smarter than the teacher.</p>
<p>I always read all my books for english until this year when we had to read this one book. I read half-way thru then started using spark notes for the quizzes. but I'm gonna re-read it this summer, since its gonna be my exam text for next year.</p>
<p>english=hell!!! I love to read, but I just don't do well in school when it comes to english!! I need to get better fast....</p>
<p>Uhm. Just read. No matter how busy I am, either with my term paper or preparing for APs and SAT IIs, I must finish the assigned reading for the night. My friend used Sparknotes and she said it was very helpful but I prefer to learn the book myself, instead of reading about certain aspects of the book from other readers and taking their perspectives without giving full credit where credit is due. I'd rather give my own originality of thoughts.
Honestly, I really enjoy my class. We spend sometimes a week, sometimes two weeks on a book. And we wrote analytical essays and creative writing pieces as well and I love how my English teacher is able to balance the two so none of the other is an excess. In class, it's mostly discussion based.</p>
<p>I always read the book, even if I hate it (Cry the Beloved Country, anyone?). Although if I don't like it, I won't quite pay attention when I'm reading it. </p>
<p>With Shakespeare we just read it in class and watched Branagh (which cuts nothing). A few of my friends managed not to read it. Also, in my humanities classes we always read everything in class.</p>