Drama: A Pocket Anthology (Penguin Academics Series) [Paperback]

R. S. Gwynn (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321277228 | ISBN-13: 978-0321277220 | Publication Date: July 17, 2005 | Edition: 3rd

The perfect alternative to lengthy drama anthologies, this brief, affordable collection of the discipline's most widely taught plays provides a concise, but complete, introduction to the study of drama. In keeping with the objectives of the Penguin Academics series, Drama: A Pocket Anthology offers highly respected playwrights and a quality trade-format book at a very affordable price. This expanded edition features five new selections--including plays by Paula Vogel and Athol Fugard--and a revised, updated section on "Writing about Drama."

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Compact yet complete–and always at a reasonable price!

For more than 60 years, instructors and their students have looked to Penguin trade paperbacks for state-of-the-art scholarship, accessibility, and fair prices. Longman, Penguin’s sister company, aims to meet those same expectations with textbooks in our series Penguin Academics.

We’ve created the Penguin Academics series with ease of use in mind–the books are conveniently portable and highly readable, with engaging typefaces and interior designs. Concise yet thorough in their coverage of the basics, Penguin Academics titles are ideal for use either by themselves or in combination with other books. A list of related Penguin paperbacks can be found at the back of this and every Penguin Academics title.

The ideal alternative to longer anthologies, this brief, affordable, and diverse collection of widely taught and influential plays provides a concise yet comprehensive introduction to the study of drama.  This chronologically organized anthology includes playwrights from classical Greece to contemporary Broadway, reflecting the work of the genre’s most distinguished playwrights.

 

Gwynn’s Drama is a terrific and affordable collection of plays…I recommend to students that they keep [this volume] after the class is over to read for pleasure and to use for reference.

Laura Early, University of Louisville

 

The plays in [this] text are a perfect spring board for everything that needs to be covered in the class. It is a text that gets straight to the point of theatre. I appreciate this fact and the fact that it is actually affordable. The students like that.

Elizabeth M. Sloan, Northeast State Community College

 

 

In addition to offering a strong selection of plays, Gwynn…introduces students, in fluent prose, not only to key traditions in drama but also to the working vocabulary they’ll need for the course.

Randy Hendricks, University of West Georgia

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

R. S. Gwynn has edited several other books, including Fiction: A Pocket Anthology; Poetry: A Pocket Anthology; Literature: A Pocket Anthology; Inside Literature: Reading, Responding, Writing (with Steven Zani); The Art of the Short Story (with Dana Gioia); and Contemporary American Poetry: A Pocket Anthology (with April Lindner).  He has also authored five collections of poetry, including No Word of Farewell: Selected Poems, 1970-2000. He has been awarded the Michael Braude Award for verse from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  Gwynn is University Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Longman; 3rd edition (July 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321277228
• ISBN-13: 978-0321277220
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #648,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twelve Plays at a Very Good Price, October 13, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drama: A Pocket Anthology (Penguin Academics Series) (Paperback)

This book presents a collection of the twelve most frequently studied plays along with a fairly short but well done introduction to the art of drama itself. The book is intended as a text for drama students with a wide collection of plays to be studied. The plays range from 'Oedipus the King' (first performed about 430 BC to 'How I Learned to Drive' - 1998 Pulizer Prize winner for drama.

This is the third edition of this popular book. In this edition the number of plays has been expanded to twelve (from nine) and the introduction has been expanded with coverage of Greek 'old comedy' and the theater of the absurd. Finally the section on writing about drama has been both expanded and revised to conform to the sixth edition of the MLA handbook.

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Service!, August 27, 2011

By 

HLMJr - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Drama: A Pocket Anthology (Penguin Academics) (4th Edition) (Paperback)

Drama: A Pocket Anthology (Penguin Academics) (4th Edition); Ordered and shipped in perfect cond. The package to secure and in complete. I really enjoyed reading each play and the Intro was helpful as well. Thanks!

5 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Table of Contents Would be Nice, September 11, 2007

By 

Delia LaForte "B'dele" (The North Country) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drama: A Pocket Anthology (Penguin Academics Series) (Paperback)

I haven't read the book, so this is actually a review of the info on the book. Why is there no TOC listed? How am I to decide on this book if I don't know what plays it contains. Very bad marketing.