CliffsNotes Study Strategy

Most people think reading CliffsNotes along with the book is the best way to go. To do this, read a chapter of the book or act of the play, then the corresponding section in the CliffsNotes. You can also read the entire book, then use the CliffsNotes for review.

Here's the advice that Cliff Hillegass, founder of CliffsNotes, used to give to students:

Cliff's Message to Students

CliffsNotes provide you with the combined efforts of teachers, writers, and editors who've studied, taught, and analyzed what literary classics mean to literature as a whole and to you in particular. Opinions expressed in the notes aren't rigid dogma meant to discourage your intellectual exploration. You should use them as starting points to open yourself to new methods of encountering, understanding, and appreciating literature. Acquire some knowledge about the author and the work, read a brief synopsis of the work, and then read the work itself, reviewing and consulting CliffsNotes when necessary.

CliffsNotes give you the basics — including such features as information about the author, social and historical backgrounds, structure and tradition of literary genres, facts about the characters, critical analyses, review questions, glossaries of unfamiliar terms, foreign phrases and literary allusions, maps, genealogies, and a bibliography to help you locate more data for essays, oral reports, and term papers.

A thorough appreciation of literature allows no short cuts. By using CliffsNotes 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.

—Cliff Hillegass