<p>I doubt graders care much. It seems very likely that they skim, look for basic requirements for 6-1, write their answer, and move on to the next one. On one essay I used very cliche books (mockingbird and alice in wonderland) and on the other I used extremely obscure books. My scores were within a point of each other and I had a really weak climax for the lower one. </p>
<p>I would recommend actually reading books over sparknoting any day, though. You’ll gain a better vocabulary, become a better reader, learn more about the world, and get more absorbed in 5 hours of reading a good book than you would in two hours of dull sparknoting.</p>