Literary Standards

There are generally considered to be seven standards a piece of literature should abide to in order to be considered 'literary'. If a piece of writing is considered 'literary' this usually suggests that it is a scholarly article or classical writing that is extremely well written and is very informative.

Literary writing can be intellectual and contain a lot of cleverly hidden meanings which ensure the writing can be enjoyed and studied on many different levels and often still enjoyed many years after it was written. Many people believe that literature cannot be defined and literary theory should simply be thought of as way of interpreting both texts and events.

The seven standards that a piece of literature usually contains to be considered literary are:
Permanence
An important feature of great literature is that it endures. Classic literature such as Dickens is still enjoyed by readers today, generations after it was originally written and in a completely different world to the one it was intended for. This is extremely important because if a work of literature is not enjoyed 20 years after publication, it will simply be forgotten.
Universal appeal
This is similar to endurance in the fact that literature must appeal to a range of people across different age groups, nationalities, cultures and beliefs.
Artistry
The literature should be well written and appeal to our creative sides with beautifully crafted phrases and sentences. Sentences such as these are often memorized and can become famous phrases.
Style
The writer of literature will usually have a unique view of the world and will put thoughts to us in a way we have never considered. It may be thoughts about the world or it may simply be thoughts about the actual words used. Words may be used in a creative and unusual way that is entertaining and interested.
Intellectually valuable
Literary work will usually inform us about our past, our present or the world around us. It may not be in the