3 Sites You Need for Book Study Guides

Have you ever had to read a book for class, but you simply can’t finish it? Maybe you just simply don’t understand what’s going on, or you’ve procrastinated…

Here are a few sites you could visit that will offer you not only summaries of books, but also notes and study guides. (note that not every single book will be available).

Spark Notes

Spark Notes is a great site to check out if you’re struggling to understand some of the classics you may be asked to read in your english or literature class.

Some of the titles you may find on Spark Notes are To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and even Shakespeare like Hamlet and Macbeth.

The free version of Spark Notes will give you access to summaries and analyses of each chapter and the book as a whole, as well as a complementary video summary. Spark Notes will list out a complete list of the characters in the book, as well as an analysis of literary devices like themes, motifs, symbols, allusions, etc. in the book. Additional resources include quizzes, a Q&A section, and quotes.

If you choose to pay for Spark Notes+, you will have access to mastery quizzes, flashcards, and infographics.

Studying Shakespeare?

Struggling to understand Shakespearean vocabulary? Spark Notes has a life-saving tool called “No Fear Shakespeare” where you can choose from a wide array of Shakespeare’s plays and read them in “modern translation.” You can also read further notes on the different meanings of “Shakespearean english.” However, you do have to pay for Spark Notes+ to gain access to No Fear Shakespeare. Though, a regular Spark Notes account will still give you access to general summaries and analyses of Shakespeare’s plays.

Cliffs Notes

Cliffs Notes is a lot like Spark Notes, offering summaries and analyses of classic literary novels (including Shakespeare) and other contemporary works.

However, Cliffs Notes takes a step further to include resources on test preps for the ACT, GRE, Praxis, and SAT. Although you need to pay for the full packet of resources, Cliffs Notes offers free downloadable PDFs of example questions for all tests and free downloadable PDFs of what they call a Cram Plan for the SAT, ACT, and GRE.

Cliffs Notes also offers Quick Reviews on common high school subjects like English, Biology, U.S. History, Economics, etc. There, you can find a wide array of topics and find a quick review, or summary, of that topic.

Essentially Cliffs Notes is divided into 3 main parts: Literature Notes, Test Prep, and Study Guides.

BookRags

BookRags, like Spark Notes and Cliffs Notes, also offers detailed summary and study guide of classic and contemporary novels. However, they are far less extensive than Spark Notes and Cliffs Notes.

What sets BookRags apart from the other two is that it advertises itself as being the place that has “everything you need to study and teach Literature!” The key word here is “teach” because they offer lesson plans on an extensive list of novels.

Included in each lesson plan is an introduction, daily lessons, fun activities, essay topics, quiz/ test generator, and more. This resource may be helpful if you’re tutoring someone, or helping someone study a literary work. Or you could even use it for your own personal studies by seeing example essay or multiple choice questions.

BookRags also offers sections on Biographies (not limited to just authors or writers), Essays, as well as Homework Help: a Q&A format where students can ask questions and people in the community can answer.