Academia has been throwing around terms like “literary value” and “literary merit” for centuries. However, this debate still exists today and has grown to include other mediums, like music, film, and television. Most of the time, these arguments have been used as a way to dismiss the stories that are enjoyed by the masses as being inferior or less significant. Well, you are the masses and you are also scholars, so here is your chance to enter this conversation.
Choose a specific genre and medium (you can get more specific if you want and choose a sub-genre or even an intended audience) and argue in defense of its literary value.
Ask yourself:
How are other people defining literary value and what is your definition of
literary value? What about this genre makes it meaningful? Valuable? Unique? Important? Why are the people who think it isn’t “valuable literature” completely and totally wrong?
Sample Solution
