Literary Merit Presentation
Originally I thought literary merit had something to do with honesty. I thought literary merit wasn’t a set thing and that it can be changed from person to person. I thought that it had everything to do with how your respectable knowledge correlated with the book. I also thought that for a book to have literary merit means that it is quality and respectable.

My final definition of literary merit is that for a work to have Literary Merit is for it to have depth, complexity, detail, be thought provoking, and also have some sort of relation to real world events. I think that this is a vital part of a work of literature to have literary merit. A literary work needs depth because it needs the ability to be able to be talked about, discussed, and comprehended. A simple short story isn’t much of a big deal so it wouldn’t have any significance. A story with lots of detail, and an important storyline that leads to a bigger meaning will have a much more lasting impact. To have literary merit, complexity is a must. This can come in many different forms, such as cultural complexities, complex characters,  multiple storylines happening at once. Ultimately within the complexity comes purpose. Every detail and every part of the book has a reason it is there and will contribute to the overall bigger meaning. Most books that have literary merit share some common themes. Most books with literary merit have multiple themes that work together to create an impactful story.Many books with literary merit discuss real world problems, whether directly or indirectly, and in some way will shed light on certain topics. Literary works with literary merit will not be a simple fable or short story like we all grew up on. While yes, they are easy to understand and do have a big lesson in them, they lack depth and detail that causes you to have to sit back and think.To have literary merit is to be worthy of taking time to read it. It can teach you about things you may have never seen before and show you new perspectives to life you probably never thought about before. This is a vital part of living and learning and it is a very good characteristic for a piece of literature to have. This allows it to have some type of lasting impact on your life.
My final definition is almost no where near my first definition, as I was way off base in the beginning. I thought literary merit was an opinion and not an actual title given to a book regardless of the appealing nature.
I came to understand literary merit this way because of the characteristics of the books this year. I noticed every book had literary merit and I looked for the things most of the books had. The biggest factor being complexity and getting your mind running. None of the books we have read have been simple, doesn’t mean they have been complicated they have just been rich with detail and plot.

I made a chart showing my original definition and wrote specific things about each book that changed the definition and used that to come up with my final definition. Every piece of my definition has multiple parts from multiple books to back it up.
The biggest challenge I faced was deciding how I wanted to organize the information I had gathered. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to visually represent my thoughts on literary merit. It was also very difficult for me to be able to find a website I was able to navigate and use, and that I actually loved. I had to redo this project multiple times because I was unsatisfied with it.

My biggest take away from this project is that literary merit is actually a big deal. It can actually have such an impact on your life, especially if you are a regular reader. Overall, Literary Merit can mean something different to every person. But I think the true factor of literary works that makes them have Literary Merit is that they have complexity and depth. These make them worth reading and worth a second thought. You will walk away from them knowing more than you did before and understanding a more diverse world than before. I think this is the most important factor. With literary merit your creative thoughts are running wild, but not in a child-like way. You are able yo be open with your thoughts and make the book fitting for you in the best way for you to understand the full story.