Some texts are easy to read. Others are difficult. That is perfectly obvious. The challenge lies in devising an objective means to measure texts on how difficult they are to read. That is one of the puzzles that motivated our development of Coh-Metrix and ultimately the writing of this book. How do we scale texts on comprehension difficulty? Or on the flip side: easability?

It is often quite clear when texts are difficult or easy. Consider the two texts below and cast your vote on which is difficult and which is easy.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover

He spread the blankets, putting one at the side for a coverlet. She took off her hat, and shook her hair. He sat down, taking off his shoes and gaiters, and undoing his cord breeches. “Lie down then!” he said, when he stood in his shirt. She obeyed in silence, and he lay beside her, and pulled the blanket over them both.

A Mortgage

The assignment, sale, or transfer of the servicing of the mortgage loan does not affect any term or condition of the mortgage instrument, other than terms directly related to the servicing of your loan. Except in limited circumstances, the law requires your present servicer send you this notice within 15 days before this effective date or at closing.

We do not need to conduct a survey to discover how most English speakers will vote. The Chatterley text by D. H. Lawrence is clearly easier than the mortgage text. The question is why?