The printing press has made knowledge accessible to a large number of people - but what kind of ...
0The printing press has made knowledge accessible to a large number of people - but what kind of knowledge is it? Is it of any lasting character? Books have become commonplace, and when we say that books like the Sexton Blake series sell like hot cakes, we have an indicator of the type of knowledge the average person in a vast crowd seeks. Let me tell you about an incident that occurred a few years ago in America. An American publisher printed a million copies of Charles Dickenss works in the hope of easily selling them in the authors name. But, to his disappointment, no amount of publicity or advertising could help him sell the books. He devised a strategy while exhausted. He tore off the cover pages, replaced the titles with covers containing sensational love headings, and advertised the new books once more. All of the books were gone in a week. Were not concerned with the morality of the booksellers actions here. It is worth noting that only books of a sensational nature are actively sought after by ordinary people with a strong aversion to serious study. As a result, the grand argument that the printing press has made knowledge available to the masses is clearly fallacious and misleading. To put it another way, it has created a taste for low-order books.
On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer the following questions:
The American publisher had chosen the works of Charles Dickens to
(a) give wide publicity to Dickens works.
(b) offer the readers what best he could.
(c) counter the trash.
(d) make money easily.
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