Jago's mention of the importance of taking notes is important and worthwhile to keep in mind. While it might be easier to just make copies of handouts for our students, they aren't really learning. As she says "once you hand them a paper, they don't think they need to read it" (pg. 107). Not only won't they might not read but, but as a teacher, I may explain the notes in a way that makes perfect sense to me, but not so much to my students. If they are taking the notes themselves, then they are connecting to the information and are more likely to notice if something doesn't make sense and ask for clarification. I don't really like the Cornell Notes handout she uses; it looks sort of complicated to me. I would much rather just have bullet points or an outline, but if it works for her and her students, then it would be worth using.
When dealing with an epic or a novel with a lot of characters, it can be helpful to create a chart of the characters and the relationships between the two, especially when some of the characters share the same name such as in Hamlet. This doesn't have to be anything fancy; it could be like the list Jago presents or a family tree type thing. Either way, having charts like this helps students keep the characters straight.
Good point about the names - this can be very confusing for readers. I like the idea of a family tree.
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