Yes, the name is awkward, but the content is not… Shmoop is an excellent resource for all Language Arts and United States Government and History teachers. Shmoop serves as a study resource for both students and teachers, offering condensed study guides of novels, short stories, poetry and historical eras/ topics of United States history. Shmoop’s mission is “to make learning and writing more fun in the digital age.” Shmoop is maintained by PhD and Masters students at Stanford, Harvard, and UC Berkley.
I love this site because it offers the ability to download the study guides in PDF format. Additionally, you can download information straight to an eBook reader (Kindle, Nook or other). The information is useful and yet not as encompassing as Sparknotes or Cliffnotes, and can maintain the integrity of assignments more easily. Shmoop offers a number of resources for each of its hundreds of highly-used novels, such as: Introduction, Summary, Themes, Quotes, Characters, Analysis, Study Questions (by theme), and Web Resources. For United States history or government teachers, Shmoop offers a number of resources via time period or topic. Most sections offer an Introduction, Summary & Analysis, Timeline, People, Facts, and Web Resources. Shmoop also has a subscription offering for AP test preparation that is getting great reviews ($12.95).
While on the topic, Shmoop is hosting its first poetry contest for high school students. The question requires only a 500 word (or less) response and the grand prize winner will receive an iPad (really bummed that I am not able to enter because, boy, would I love me an iPad). Entries are accepted until May 28th. Here is a link for the prompt and further information.