Do they ever read the book??

Question

I would love to come here for real discussion of books and literature, not be someone's online Cliff Notes. Do you ever feel like you're writing someone's term paper for them?

Answer 1

I avoid those types of questions, generally, because I think it's more beneficial for people to learn about the books by reading the material themselves, and researching for background info, with sparknotes as a last resort for understanding themes, etc. I do like to talk about books though, and I especially enjoy recommending books to others. Perhaps someone should start a forum for really discussing books, not trying to get a summary for class.

Answer 2

No, I have never felt like I was writing someone's term paper simply because I have never done that. It is easy to detect the lazy students who are looking for someone to do the work for them and I have never answered their "questions". And, yes, I would love to talk about books, but, most of the times, we don't read the same books...

Answer 3

Time after time. Sometimes, if you get the sense that a kid really needs help after an honest effort, however, it's nice to do so. Maybe the thought is that Yahoo Answers is not the same as a cafe on the Left Bank. We move on.

I'll look up some of your other questions and maybe post there if it's something I have an opinion on.

Answer 4

Oh yes! Actually, the few questions I've answered concerning books have seemed to come from young teenagers in search of academic help. At least that's my impression from the phrasing and (often) lack of punctuation and capitalization in the questions. (That seems to be a trend in online postings from many people....especially young ones.) I hope I can point them in the right direction to do their own research....and maybe give them some hints.

Answer 5

I'm new here... but... I'm 17 and I actually do read the books. :) I still use spark/cliff notes all the time just to be sure I fully understand it. Sometimes the assignments are just hard.

Answer 6

I feel like many questions asked here do tend to be from students who are asking others to do their homework. I refuse to answer questions like those, and it is usually pretty obvious when they are being asked. I prefer to answer the questions of people that are looking for a title they just can't remember or suggestions for more books like another they enjoyed.

Answer 7

From the perspective of a high school English teacher, I try to ignore the questions that are obvious attempts by high schoolers at avoiding work.

Answer 8

All the time - I usually tell people to read the book rather than ask questions for their homework.

Answer 9

I know what you mean! Luckily the way they word the questions you can usually tell they are quoting their homework questions almost verbatim, so you can avoid answering those questions.