In Rambler # 4, Samuel Johnson comes down hard on novels, and wants to limit (if not eliminate) their reading by young people. Why? What’s Johnson’s fear and worry? Where have we heard similar kinds of arguments and warnings?

In Rambler # 4, Samuel Johnson comes down hard on novels, and wants to limit (if not eliminate) their reading by young people. Why? What’s Johnson’s fear and worry? Where have we heard similar kinds of arguments and warnings? We may categorize Johnson as a rhetorical critic/theorist; that is, his orientation toward literature emphasizes the dynamic between the literary text and its reader/audience. What do you think of the way that he conceptualizes that dynamic? — by your estimate, where does he get it right, where does he get it wrong?