An Introduction to Literature (Four parts) reading the Short Story, the Nature of Drama, How Does a Poem Mean ? The Character of Prose

by Herbert John Barrows

This book introduces literature in four parts, each by a different short stories, drama, poetry, and prose.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[C.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This in regard to "How Does a Poem Mean" -- absolutely excellent. Both an adventure and a manual, but the best manual require adventures because text doesn't stick unless you're stuck in the middle of it. And the way to go straight to the heart of prose and poetry is to read not ABOUT it, but to read IT. So Ciardi, although he writes eloquently about the pieces that make poems poems, primarily puts the reader into the text of poems, and then -- with them -- digs out, noting the precision of structure and diction as he goes, inviting the reader to wonder more deeply and listen more closely.

Fun stuff, mates.