Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense

Rating:
Summary: an excellent introduction to the study of genre.
Review: Perrine approaches the three broad genres of literature-- short story, poetry, and drama--in an exciting, fun way for beginning literature students, or those required to take a literature course. And for the instructor, "Literature" is especially a beginning instructor's dream. Perrine organizes the genre's in three separate sections and provides solid, accepted critical material on craftsmenship. He also provides excellent study questions for students. The poetry section is especially good. He presents progressively more sophisticated poems and also gives side by comparisons of "bad" poems with "good" poems which have the same theme. In the past, a companion teacher's supplement was avaiable which was balanced, readable, and nonthreatening in that instructors could use the supplemental comments or not and feel comfortable either way.