Laurence Dollins Perrine (October 13, 1915 – April 27, 1995)[1][2] was a Southern Methodist University professor whose literature textbooks became standard works nationwide.
Perrine's works include textbooks on the appreciation of poetry and fiction entitled Sound and Sense and Story and Structure, first published in 1956 and 1959 respectively.
Many of the principles of both Sound and Sense and Story and Structure contributed to a secondary-level literature textbook co-edited by Perrine entitled Adventures in Appreciation (1st ed.
In his honor, the chapter awards a Perrine Prize each year to a member of SMU's undergraduate faculty in liberal studies.
[3] A paragraph about judging a poem by evaluating its perfection and significance from the 15th chapter of Perrine's book Sound and Sense was used in Dead Poets Society (1989).