Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense [Hardcover]

Thomas R. Arp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0155038222 | ISBN-13: 978-0155038226 | Edition: 7

For over twenty-five years, this three-genre anthology has been a leading title for introductory literature courses. It provides a comprehensive introduction to the principal forms of fiction, poetry, and drama. Each section includes a simple discussion of the elements of the form and carefully selected stories, poems, or plays for illustration. Each section also includes an anthology of additional selections for further reading. In the Seventh Edition, the tradition of clear, precise writing and practical organization initiated by Laurence Perrine years ago is continued by Thomas R. Arp, Professor Perrine's colleague at Southern Methodist University and co-author of the Perrine trilogy for many years. He has used the same criteria of literary excellence and teaching usefulness that he and Professor Perrine utilized during the years of their collaboration to select new stories, poems, and plays for the anthology and has updated certain sections to reflect reader preferences and recent literary interests. Features: * Continues to present the best of classic literature, along with new contemporary writers. * Organized around the elements of literature within each genre, the section sare arranged progressively to give students information to understand and use. * Includes a "Writing About Literature" appendix to help guide students through the process of thinking and writing about literature. New to this edition: * Nine new short stories and one new novella (about 25% of the total selections), including works by Toni Cade Bambara, Margaret Atwood, Ann Beattie, Dagoberto Gilb, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Ann Porter. * Numerous new poems (about 30% of the total selections), many by women and minority poets. * Completely rewritten chapter on Meter and Rhythm to include expanded coverage of non-metrical verse. * Several limericks by Laurence Perrine, a master of that verse form. * New one-act plays by six playwrights, including Vaclav Havel, Tom Stoppard, J.E. Franklin, Luis Valdez, and Christopher Durang, in addition to classics by Shakespeare, Chekhov, Sophocles, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and others.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1522 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 7 edition (August 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0155038222
• ISBN-13: 978-0155038226
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #526,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is an amnazing resource for students and scholars., November 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense (Hardcover)

I have used this book extensively in my college level literature and composition class. It has proven an invaluable resource for those seeking information on topics ranging from analysis of poetry to dramatic interpretation to stylistic movement within a piece of writing. The text offers specific examples within its lessons and includes many unabridged sources including poems, short stories, and plays. I highly recommend this book to any who seek to expand their knowledge of literary structure, sound, and sense. It will prove valuable as you struggle to expand as a writer, reader, and thinker.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book even outside of the classroom, November 22, 1998

By 

Jimmy Lin (New Brunswick, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense (Hardcover)

*SS&S* is a great book for anyone who enjoys serious literature. I have not read this, the latest edition, but I doubt that the content has changed significantly.

What makes this book so good is the fact that it is highly readable. The stories, poems, and plays selected for the text are chosen to appeal to a wide audience. A plethora of writers that span the Middle Ages to the mid-20th century appear within these pages. It is a wonderful overview of English literature, and I feel that it makes a much better book than the Nortan Anthologies simply because it doesn't focus on one medium, nation, or time period.

What also appeals to me about this text is the space given to non-Shakespearean authors, esp. of the Elizabethan times. Too often, ol' *Romeo*'s bard pops up, and we are deprived of a chance to learn about other (and possibly greater) writers, such as Jonson, Marlowe, and (my favorite) Donne.

Five years ago, I complete my high school senior English lit. course with the fifth edition of this text. My teacher was sufficiently impressed with my taking to the volume that she discreetly "loaned" me an old fourth edition. This red tome has journeyed across the country with me, and I hope is that one day my children and grandchildren will derive as much pleasure from it as I have. Whenever I feel the urge to read something substantial but not take a few weeks to do so, *SS&S* has always been there for me. Order this book, and you will never need for a short classic again.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best English textbooks, October 3, 2004

By 

Christine (SF Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense (Hardcover)

I am currently using this textbook in my AP English Literature class and this is one of the best English text books that I have used so far.

It really provides numerous poetry (famous and not-famous) with in-depth questions that I find very helpful for me to study