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Studying Lit

Discussion of quizbowl topics not related to specific tournaments
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logic2718
Posts: 207
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:00 am

Studying Lit

Post by logic2718 »

So this winter break, I had planned on studying some lit (probably my worst subject). Up to this point, I have simply used what I've learned in school combined with things I've picked up from reading old packets. However, I now want to systematically go about learning a bunch of western literature. The ideal way for me to learn stuff like this is if I had a book that went chronologically describing the various periods and movements in different countries and then proceeded to discuss the most important authors and their works.

I'm not a big fan of:
a) list memorization
b)reading those "500 Must-read Books" type things (I don't learn well that way; I prefer to have things in some sort of narrative that shows the relative significance and continuity between ideas, phases and authors. I also feel that is more intellectually enriching)
c) just finding a list of books and then enhancing my understanding with wikipedia (this has worked well enough up till now, but it's bit disorganized and I'd much rather have an actual book that I can mark, refer back to, and has everything laid out relative to what comes before/after).

So, I was wondering if anyone could refer me to books that present a fairly comprehensive history of western literature that at least somewhat meets the specifications laid out in the first part of this post.
Thanks

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Charlie Dees
Posts: 4134
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:00 am
Location: Columbia, MO

Re: Studying Lit

Post by Charlie Dees »

Ask around on hsquizbowl.org or the #quizbowl irc chatroom on slashnet.

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ajax
Posts: 942
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 12:00 am
Location: Hume, MO

Re: Studying Lit

Post by ajax »

Cliff Notes/Spark Notes for the books you need, could use Wikipedia too. This site by NAQT has more http://www.naqt.com/References/. Hope it helps

logic2718
Posts: 207
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:00 am

Re: Studying Lit

Post by logic2718 »

Thanks a bunch for that link! I'll definitely give Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia a shot.

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Charlie Dees
Posts: 4134
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:00 am
Location: Columbia, MO

Re: Studying Lit

Post by Charlie Dees »

Get a hold of a Masterplots database (I bet Wash U has one you could access), it's about 50 million times superior to Benet's or Wikipedia.

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