It can be very helpful in structuring your study of textbook material. The guide also provides good sample questions that illustrate the kinds of questions that might be on the exams. However, it would be a mistake to rely entirely on the Study Guide. Not only must you learn quite an amount of information that you might consider rather detailed, but you should also strive to understand the broader themes and context at all times. Keep in mind what you have learned in previous chapters and lectures.
Themes work best when understood together rather than in isolation.
Class time is not the appropriate time for individual specific questions about text material that you are unclear about, although good questions that extend or broaden what you have learned in the book or heard in lectures are strongly encouraged during classes. Such questions enrich class in general and are strongly encouraged. For more detailed questions, seek us out after class, during office hours, or make an appointment. If we can help you or point you in the right direction, we certainly will, but you must ask for help first.