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 literary standards are: artistry, suggestiveness, intellectual value, spiritual value,
permanence, universality and style. These are a set of characteristics to determine whether or
not a work is literary. The criteria was developed by writer William J. Long in his textbook
“English Literature: Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English-speaking World.“

1. Artistry
 It has an aesthetic appeal to everyone and thus possesses a sense of
beauty. Artistry describes literature that is aesthetically appealing and reveals or
conveys hidden truth and beauty. This type of literature appeals to broad audiences and
possesses a sense of beauty in the writing that could even feel poetic.
 This is the quality that appeals to our senses of beauty.
 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.
 The art work is in its plainest sense an expression of some experience in a form which
emphasizes the beautiful in the selected materials that have been articulated in a
certain style and technique. Articulation should result in the creation of a clear,
harmonious, and integrated objective art form.
 All art is the expression of life in forms of truth and beauty or in another word which
exist in this world and which remain unnoticed until bought to our attention by some
sensitive human soul same like the delicate curves of the shell reflects sounds and
harmonies too faint to be otherwise noticed. In the same pleasing, surprising way, all
artistic work must be a kind of revelation as architecture is probably the oldest creative
work of arts and yet we still have many builders but few architects, that is, men whose
work in wood or stone suggests some hidden truth and beauty to the human senses.
 Artistry in literature entails all the elements of being creative. It involves being creative
in portraying the setting, mood, tone and text features of a particular writing.

2. Intellectual Value
 It stimulates critical thinking that enriches the mental processes of abstract and
reasoning, making man realizes the fundamental truths of life and its nature.
Intellectual value takes readers into a bit of a gray area as they may have different
opinions about what qualifies as intellectual, but from an academic point of view,
intellectual works are relevant to society and thought provoking. Literature with
intellectual value promotes critical thinking that enhances both abstract and reason-
based thought processes and makes readers focus on the fundamental truths of life and
nature.
 A literary works stimulates thought. It enriches our mental life by making us realize
fundamental truths about life and human nature.
 Literary work will usually inform us about our past, our present or the world around us.
It may not be in the form of facts and figures but it will help us understand our lives and
realize truths about humanity and life in general. Literature should mentally stimulate us
and enriches our thoughts.
 Every artist, it must be assumed, is stimulated by his conception of a fundamental truth
when he creates his work of art. It is this truth which he objectifies so that it may reach
his audience in a familiar form. When such a truth explains or clarifies an aspect of the
human condition such that this leads the appreciator to a thoughtful realization of its
import and impact on his outlook as a human being, the work of art is said to reflect an
intellectual value. In other words, it becomes a source for the appreciator who is
expected to arrive at a synthesis of what he realizes from the apprehension and
comprehension of the work of art confronting him

3. Suggestiveness
 It unravels and conjures man’s emotional power to define symbolism, nuances, implied
meanings, images and message, giving and evoking visions above and beyond the plane
of ordinary life and experiences. A suggestive piece of literature relies on emotional
power to convey nuances, symbolism, implied meanings, imagery and messages. The
power of suggestion allows the work to inspire and provoke thoughts and
understanding beyond the actual words written on the page.
 This is the quality associated with the emotional power of literature. Great literature
moves us deeply and stirs our feeling and imagination, giving and evoking visions above
and beyond the plane of ordinary life and experience.
 Literature should carry many associations that lead beyond the surface meaning.
Underlying suggestions usually carry an enormous amount of emotional power, often
because it is not directly mentioned but hinted at through associations that can often be
more powerful. The reader is left to establish what the author is suggesting and this
captures the reader's imagination by making think about what they are reading and
engaging them into the story

4. Spiritual Value
 It elevates the spirit and the soul and thus have the power to motivate and inspire,
drawn from the suggested morals or lessons of the different literary genres.

Literature with spiritual value lifts up the inner spirit and soul and has the power to
motivate and inspire readers. It typically draws on the suggested lessons and moral
codes of society that are depicted in various literary genres.
 Literature elevates the spirit by bringing out moral values which makes a better persons.
The capacity to inspire is part of the spiritual value of literature.
 Great works of literature are often thought to have an underlying moral message that
can potentially make us better people. Moral values are often written between the lines
and can help us become better people
 Critics like Babbitt, Eliot, and the earlier Tolstoi have measured significant literature in
terms of how it would explain life and how to cope with it in the light of human
limitations. In fact, the moral approach in literature is the oldest mode of appreciation.
Aristotle discourses on this in his Poetics when he points out that “no man can be a
good poet, unless he is a good man,” and that poetry was used by the Greek teachers to
correct a pupil’s morals

5. Permanence
 It endures across time and draws out the time factor: TIMELINESS, occurring at a
particular time, and TIMELESSNESS, remaining invariably throughout time.

Permanence is determined by a written work’s ability to stand the test of time, which
makes it impossible to determine at the moment of writing. Novels that continue to be
read over and over again across decades, either for enjoyment or for fresh insights and
ideas, meet this criteria. Many novels enjoy initial popularity but ultimately fade into
obscurity with time, failing the permanence test.
 A great work of literature endures. It can be read again and again as each reading gives
fresh delight and new insights and opens a new world of meaning and experience. Its
appeal is lasting.
 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
 Great literature has been known to be timeless. They have defied the imperatives of
Time (that things grow old and become passé) so that they continue to be readable
even in contemporary times. For instance, Shakespeare’s dramas have become classics
perhaps because they celebrate the elemental verities about man and his lifestyle. True,
the settings may be in another time and in another place far removed from where the
reader may be, but the characters and the plots are as constant as human nature.
 Shakespeare dealt with human problems which are intimately linked with man’s
constant preoccupation --- the business of staying alive, the snares of human passion,
and the aberrations of instincts gone haywire, the lot, which have really not changed
much since that time until the present. They are still the same problems plaguing man.
Great literature, when read, comes up alive in any clime, at any time, in any place. In all
occasions, they do not fail to regale man with their relevance

6. Universality
 It appeals to everyone regardless of culture, race, sex, and time which are considered
significant. Universality describes a piece of writing that appeals to the hearts and
minds of almost any reader. The appeal is considered universal due to its ability to cross
gender, racial and cultural barriers, regardless of the time it’s written.
 Great literature is timeless and timely. Forever relevant, it appeals to one and all,
anytime, everywhere, because it deals with elemental feelings, fundamental truths and
universal conditions.
 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.
 Some of the best compositions in other languages come to us in translations. Although
we realize that a lot is taken away from their enjoyment because they do not reach us
with the original flavour and vigour of the language in which they were first written, we
still marvel at the power with which they jolt us.
 They may be about other people, other voices, but they do not cease to be meaningful.
It is quite easy to realize that they have become the property of mankind because they
depict man as a universal being, afflicted by the same pains wherever he may be; only
the accidents differ --- the substance is man. Such epics as Homer’s “Iliad” and
“Odyssey”, the “Song of Roland” and others have become part of the universal fabric of
literary treasures --- they have even surfaced in other forms, but with the same
substance, in other countries other than their land of origin

7. Style
 Style refers to the distinct way the author expresses his or her thoughts. Words can be
used in unique, creative and entertaining ways that make the work memorable. Style is
another element that is subject to interpretation by readers in terms of its appeal.

It presents peculiar ways on how man sees life as evidenced by the formation of his
ideas, forms, structures, and expressions which are marked by their memorable
substance
 This is the peculiar way in which writers sees life, forms his ideas and expresses them.
 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