This eighth edition of Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, like the previous editions, is written for the student who is beginning a serious study of imaginative literature.

An authoritative, continually updated bestseller for over sixty years, PERRINE�S LITERATURE: STRUCTURE, SOUND, AND SENSE, 13e provides the most effective introduction to literature for a new generation of learners. Written for students beginning a serious study of literature, the text introduces the fundamental elements of fiction, poetry, and drama in a concise and engaging way, addressing vital questions that other texts ignore, such as "Is some literature better?" and "How can it be evaluated?" A rich and diverse selection of classic, modern, and contemporary readings brings the elements of literature to life and is updated with new stories, poems, and plays by some of the finest authors of any era. In addition, the thirteenth edition reflects the most recently published MLA guide (8th edition, 2016).

From one of America’s most popular short story writers and an Academy Award nominee: the O. Henry Award–winning tale that inspired the movie The Hunt. A subject of mysterious rumors and superstition, the deserted Caribbean Island was shrouded in an air of peril. To Sanger Rainsford, who fell off a yacht and washed up on its shores, the abandoned isle was a welcome paradise. But unknown to the big-game hunter, a predator lurked in its lush jungles—one more dangerous than any he had ever encountered: a human. First published in 1924, this suspenseful tale “has inspired serial killers, films and stirred controversy in schools. A century on, the story continues to thrill” (The Telegraph). “[A] tense, relentless story of man-against-man adventure, in which the hunter Sanger Rainsford learns, at the hands of General Zaroff, what it means to be hunted.” —Criterion