A question about my english essay?

Question

What is the difference between asking what is worth reading, and asking what gives a text more merit than another?

what gives a text more value (merit) than another?

Answer 1

Hmmm...thats a difficult question. I would say that what is worth reading is more subjective...what i may think is a good book to read and WORTH reading you may think is an aweful book and a waste of time.

On the other hand the merits of the book is probably a more quantitative appraoch to analyzing a book. Was the plot well developed, were the characters three dementional. What literary conventions did they use...were they used well. I would say that these are more in line with discussing the merits of a book, more widely accepted modes of judging a book....the kind of stuff you would look at in school.

Afterall i have read great books that probably dont have many literary merits....they were just fun reads (like the junkfood of the book word)

Hope this was helpful

Answer 2

Lots of books are "worth reading" for entertainment value, but they have little or no literary merit. One example is Gone With the Wind.... everyone loves it, myself included, but I don't think it will ever be taught in an English class.

Email me if you need more details. I'm an English teacher. :)

Answer 3

a possible answer is that a text with more 'difficulty' and meaning which is hard to understand has more merit.

as opposed to being worth reading which is just that it could be interesting, fun, well-written, has some kind of emotional impact... something like that.

but it's not a tremendously clear question!

Answer 4

nothin...the merit one just sounds more professional.

Answer 5

nothing