Why Nicholas Spark books are not worthy of the title Literary Merit

 Hello World, today I am going to tell you why Nicholas Sparks’ books do not deserve the title of literary merit. A book and or author of literary merit for those of you who do not know are the Jane Austin’s and Charles Dickens of the world. A work of literary merit is a novel or poem that entices the reader whether it be with old English or a strange chronological order as seen in Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man. The way I compare a novel to a work of literary merit is by looking at two of my favorite authors, Nicholas Sparks and then one of my other favorites F. Scott Fitzgerald and compare the differences of their novels. Nicholas spark books are extremely predictable (why I love them so much). Boy meets girl, they fall in love, something terrible happens and it ends in death or working through the tough times together. Sparks demonstrates the stereotypical modern love story. While Fitzgerald is praised for his love story and his novel is a work of literary merit. Why is that? You must all be asking. It is due to the literary cannon that is used; the unknowing of what will happen next in the novel and the complexity of the characters personality and the events that take place. A work of literary merit is considered an exceptional piece of work and one that students can be tested on. When you think about it, the AP Exam would be extremely easy if they were testing you on the plot and complexity of the characters in Nicholas sparks array of romantic novels. The AP Exam chooses works of art that they feel are going to challenge the reader and make them question every aspect in the novel, all the hidden meanings. A work of literary merit is one that will keep you up at night, horrified of the actions of one of the characters and in tears at another’s because there is such complexity.

 Until next time J

I learned that I thought I hated to read the day my freshman English teacher handed out Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This book grossed me out to the extent that I, for the first time did not enjoy reading. Throughout the weeks we we’re reading it in class I expressed my queasiness towards the literature and my teacher kept saying, “Just kept reading you might surprise yourself”. I read or really skimmed the novel and avoided participating in discussions about it and just kept saying that I hated it. In the past I have been the kind of reader to just read a book and enjoy it, I would read at least twenty or so books every summer because I loved to read. However, this summer I realized that I truly was not reading the book, I was not analyzing and truly understanding what I was reading. The question that then came to my head was, how could I hate a book if I did not understand it and really analyze? My uncle absolutely loves Ralph Ellison’s bildungsroman Invisible man so when he heard I was reading it this past summer he insisted on weekly book meetings to discuss what I had read so far. Every week he would make me tell him what I understood and then ask him questions about what I did not. At first I did not look forward to these meetings because I was having trouble understanding some of the main concepts of the novel. As the weeks went on as I was reading and meeting with my uncle I caught myself becoming a different reader, asking myself questions and taking notes as I read something? Granted I had to write a paper on this book so I had to have all the main points down to a “T”. After I had finished the book and essay my weekly meeting stopped and left me with a different perspective of what one means when they say they read a piece of literature. A few weeks ago I picked up Lord of the Flies by William Golding again to see if my opinion on the work had changed. Concluding this novel for the second time made me understand that I did not really read the book but had judged it and moved on, not giving it a second thought. Therefore, I have learned that I have truly grown as a reader because of the steps I have taken to ensure my understanding of a piece of literature. For everyone who believes that they hate a book or poem or even a piece of art I challenge you to go back and revisit it with a different perspective and see if your view has changed. Never judge a book by its cover. In this blog I hope to share my journey in reading books in my AP Literature class as well as for pleasure and ultimately give my perspective on different novels and tactics.