T was one of my favourite lectuers at Arts Faculty. I enjoyed his lectures very much although his ideas were at times difficult and elusive for me. It was my fault - my English was pathetic and I was not a diligent student.
Before I took his course I only read a few Chinese literature and heard of several English writers. It was T who showed me the way to world literature. I wouldn't have known about Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, Emily Dickinson etc. if not for him. I didn't know it then but I've taken a lot from him and these knowledge is a source of inspiration for me. e.g., I've never bothered to explain the name "little stone" before; the idea in fact came from a poem by Dickinson.
Out of curiosity I checked out his lecture notes on internet and found his advice to students - get your own copy of the book you are studying; read and re-read the text as much as you can and as quickly as you can. You should try to read the text before the lectures start - these are very useful but also fundamental for a student. It goes on to show how inadequate HK students are in general. These are drawn from his observation of students in HK and these must have been very common among them. I myself made many of these mistakes. My academic life as an undergraduate student would have been much more fruitful had I taken his advice seriously.
As for another point on note taking, it's particularly true when I review my copy of "Great Gatsby" (a text used in another course) now - highlighting a text is practically useless, as it is too imprecise, and underling your copy in pen is just embarrassing: you will want to refer to the book again, and then you will be shocked at how naive your earlier notes were!
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