What is
literary merit, anyway? The biggest question to wander around the minds of
eager teenagers in AP Literature and Composition classes-it definitely crosses
my mind at least 500 times a day. Even with that over exaggeration, though, as
AP Lit (it’s lit!!) students, we need to analyze the books that we read in
order to utilize them correctly for the AP Exam in May 2016. So… what books are
worthy enough for this title?
There has
to be a starting point-the first ever book that has been credited to being a
literary merit in order for other books to follow, right? Wrong. Literary merit
is a very subjective term where only he (or she) who reads it can figure out if
the book is worthy or not. You all are going to hate me for saying this, but no
matter how addicting the Hunger Games
series is, these books are not works of literary merit. Let’s not get too rowdy
now here, I am just stating a well-known fact. Yes, I have read the series and
they were very addicting. But, that’s all that they were. Entertainment is not
a viable reason for works of literary merit. One of the biggest viable reasons
for a work of literary merit is ambiguity. Having multiple meanings for one
topic gives the reader more of a chance to explain him or herself in a
perspective that no one else sees, and maybe even enlighten those people.
Literary
merit is such a vague term that no one can ever put a solid definition on it.
However, that is the whole point adding this term to the AP Exam. According to College Board, the major reason to add
in this vague term is because they want students to showcase the skills they
learned their AP Lit classes through complex books that are considered of literary
merit. Neat, right? The horrible organization that hands out horrible exams
like the SATs and AP Exams actually care about students!! Shocker!!
That’s all
I have for now. Keep checking back for more updates!
EG
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