How do you take world literature exams without having to read the stories?

Answer 1

The entire purpose of taking a course is to learn something, not just to pass the exam. You may read Spark Notes or something of the sort, but most professors intentionally work in questions that will not be found in a Spark Notes book. Taking the easy route may get you by, but later on you may come to realize you missed out an opportunity to expand your horizons a bit. World literature is an intrinsic part of human culture. By skipping this experience, you will be missing out - it is possible that you will not realize how much you have missed, because much of our conversation, entertainment, media, and slang is based on world myths and legends, and on classic literature. You might go through your life without noticing how much of the culture just doesn't make much sense to you - or you might wonder why people say and do the things they do, and why everyone else is laughing or nodding at that part of the movie, or why nobody else seems to be confused by that reference. In the later case, you may know that you have missed something, but you may not remember enough to know what it is that you missed. The easiest way to actually get an education is to study what is given out - people who do not study are called uneducated for a good reason.