Quote Originally Posted by Penny4 View Post
I'm not sure it is any worse today than when I was in school 25 years ago. I would say the majority of my classmates (myself included) had to use Cliff Notes to get through the Scarlet Letter. WHile i found the plot interesting, I just couldn't wrap my head around the language. And the teacher never helped us with that part of it. Same with Chaucer, SHakespeare, etc...
My parents had subscribed/bought some series of children's abridged version of the classics. We had almost every children's versions of the novels on my AP reading list. It was AWESOME. The abridged version had all the important details without the old-english I couldn't understand. That with the Cliff Notes, I aced AP english. My reading comprehension is pretty low, I've always struggled with it. I have tried--forced myself--to be a better reader. I just don't have the aptitude for it. However, I love reading for pure entertainment.