To answer this question you will need to decide if people can indeed strike a balance between watching television and reading books. This will be your personal claim that you will support by evidence of your own choosing, but let's do some brainstorming to get you started.

In the poem “Television,” Roald Dahl certainly argues against such a balance. Notice what he has to say about television and how it shows “ghastly junk” to children just to keep them still, all the while rotting their brains and killing their imaginations. Now ask yourself if you agree with Dahl. Think about whether you have ever experienced the numbing effects of television or whether you think Dahl is exaggerating. Dahl offers an antidote to television: books and reading.

You will have to start your essay by stating your position. This is your thesis. You might argue that a person can indeed strike a balance between reading and watching television in spite of what Dahl asserts, or you might claim that a balance is not possible and that people are better off avoiding television and spending their time reading books. Whichever argument you choose, you must use the rest of your essay to support your claim.

If you decide that a balance is possible, you could use your own experiences as an example (provided you have found that balance). You can also argue about the educational nature of certain television programming and the questionably intellectual merit of some books. You might further discuss how some people learn visually and others verbally.

If, on the other hand, you choose to argue against television and for books, you could concentrate on the benefits of reading, how it develops the intellect and the imagination more than television usually does and perhaps expand on some of Dahl's points through personal anecdotes.