On the Classification of Age Ranges in Literature

[Elizabeth Dalton]

No: HPFGUIDX 32557

Luke,

I like your essay well enough, and I have no trouble with your 
conclusions, but doesn't it seem that you're setting up a strawman 
argument on your criteria considerations? That is, you're demanding 
that each criteria under consideration be capable of being used *in 
isolation* to determine whether a work is "intended" for adults or 
children, when it seems that a constellation might be more useful in 
generally categorizing what we think of as "children's" vs. "adult" 
literature. Standards 1-4 might easily still play a part in this 
categorization process (along with other characteristics such as 
overall length), even if they are one-sided or not sufficient unto 
themselves.

I do agree that thematic relevancy is likely to be the most important 
component of a useful standard, however. Given that the general purpose 
of any marketing-oriented "genre" categorization *is* simply the 
grouping together of books that are more likely to be enjoyed by an 
easily definable audience, books that have themes which are relevant to 
children are most likely to be books that will be enjoyed by children. 
(If predicting who will be likely to enjoy the book is not the reason 
for the creation of categories, what would be the point? A post-hoc 
definition would be sufficient: both adults and children enjoy these 
books, therefore they are suitable for both.)

Elizabeth
(Another adult who was bored by Star Trek: The Motion Picture)