Literary Merit

Literary Merit. While the process of establishing literary merit is difficult, it is the only method currently available to separate work that has significant cultural value from work that is ephemeral and essentially worthless. A work is said to have literary merit if it is a work of quality, this is if it has some aesthetic value or some sort of philosophy concerning beauty and art. Literature must provide a reader with historical information and relevance to ones life while using interesting language and original literary devices. If a book entails these qualities, I believe that it is worthy enough to be taught within schools.

The epistolary The Color Purple is worthy of Literary Merit. It illustrates real life situations that have an empathic influence on the way we feel and see the world through the eyes of the author, Alice Walker. Alice Walker is a very descriptive writer who can hold the readers attention throughout the novel.

The main character of the book, Celie starts off as a young girl (14) who gets rapped by her father. Her descriptive and detailed language embosses a powerful image that is so strong that it hurts to read. Being a 16-year-old girl, the thought of being rapped is terrifying.

Celie lives in an old-fashioned lifetime where woman are supposed to cook, clean, and take care of the family. It is beneficial to hear about this lifetime because of how different we live today. It reminds us where we came from and how far we've come to being treated equally. This book also brings up sexual orientation. Celie prefers woman. This topic is especially relevant to the world we live in today.

In conclusion, I believe that literary merit is a piece of literature that is of a superior quality or worth. However, Does a specific piece of literature consist of enough virtue or approval in order to be taught in a classroom?