Chapter five of Reading the Bible as Literature, written by Jeanie C. Crain, is called Sub-Genres: A Way of Clarifying and Mapping.  This chapter goes in to details about the sub-genres of the Bible.  There are many familiar sub-genres that are discussed in this chapter including song, allegory, parable and prayer.  There will be background information that will help the reader of this review understand what is going on before the chapter dives in to the meat of the sub-genres.  The contents of the book will be included along with the audience and purpose for this chapter.  There will then be an evaluation and reaction to this chapter as a whole. 

                This chapter, like the others, starts off with preliminary considerations that provide some information to get the reader started and thinking about what is going to come in the chapter.  The chapter then goes on to dig into the sub-genres of the Bible.  The author decides to focus just on familiar sub-genres instead of going into detail about unfamiliar, less popular sub-genres.  The chapter ends with some exercises and questions available for readers. The audience for this chapter could include students studying religion or literature.  It also could include anyone interested in furthering their beliefs and knowledge about religion and the Bible.  The audience for this chapter needs to be dedicated to looking into the Bible and verses in the Bible to see what the author is talking about. 

                Chapter five of Reading the Bible as Literature, starts off with some Preliminary Considerations.  In this section of the book, the author, Jeanie C. Crain, provides some information that is necessary and helpful for understanding of the rest of the chapter. In this sub section, there are four sections.  These sections are Conventions, Recognition of Genres, Metaphorical Function and Objections to Genre Criticism.  The Objections to Genre Criticism focused on some criticism that genre sometimes receives.  “Recognizing the diverse types of literature in the Bible helps readers make sense of a collection of texts they would otherwise find hard to read, difficult to understand, confusing, esoteric and ancient” (pg. 93).  This section of Preliminary Considerations is an important part of this chapter.

                The next section is called Familiar Sub-Genres.  Song is one sub-genre that this chapter focuses on.  This section gives examples of different times in the Bible that there is song mentioned and used.  This section focuses on a few vocabulary words including cognates, apostrophe, and stanza.  The chapter provides examples with the vocabulary to help the reader better understand what is being explained.  The next section is Allegory.  “Allegory may be defined as a continuation of metaphor, where a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable to suggest a resemblance” (pg. 98).  This section provides the reader with examples of allegory found throughout the Bible.  Also touched on in this section is a discussion about the way people read the Bible.  The Bible often time explains the allegories that are presented. 

                The next part of the sub-genre section is Parable.  A parable is a continuation of a simile.  Parable are used to show a similarity between two things.  It is two unlike concepts that are shown to have a common denominator.  This section focuses on examples of parables throughout the Bible.  Prayer follows the section on parables.  This section talks about the different types of prayer that are presented in the Bible and gives examples for these.  It also talks about how prayer has changed. 

                The chapter has achieved its goal very well.  The information is presented in an organized way.  It is great that the author starts off with preliminary considerations in order to help the reader along with understanding what is about to come in the chapter.  It’s always a great that the author ends the chapter with some exercises and questions so that if the reader would like to further their reading and knowledge they have that option.  Overall, the chapter is great for the audience that it is written for. 

                The possibilities that are suggested by the chapter start with the exercises and questions at the end.  This is a huge possibility for readers to expand their knowledge and take what they have just read in the chapter and apply it on their own time.  The author also provides possibilities by discussing things in the italics.  That provides a part for the reader to feel a little bit more related to the author and be able to see into the authors thoughts a bit more.  This is a possibility suggested by the chapter because it offers the reader to think outside of what they read. 

                The chapter has not left anything out that is extremely noticeable.  The section on song was a bit confusing with the way that the songs were presented.  It was hard to follow the songs with the way that they were presented in the chapter.  It would have been more beneficial for the author to put the songs separate from the text in order to make it a little bit easier to read and follow. 

                It is hard to say how this chapter compares to others on the subject. The author has done a great job at staying consistent throughout the book with organizing each chapter the same.  This is good for readers because the readers know what to expect when they are starting a new chapter.  It is also good because the reader will know that if they want to do more work with the chapter that there are always exercises and questions at the end in which they can do this. 

                One part of the chapter that is very beneficial to the readers is the part that the author puts in italics.  This gives the reader more of an idea of what the author is thinking.  It is a good way to give the reader a more personal opinion on the chapter and what is being talked about.  This is a good way to relate with the readers as well.  There is no personal experience with this type of subject. 

                In conclusion, chapter 5 titled Sub-Genres: A Way of Clarifying and Mapping does a great job at achieving its goal.  The chapter is split into two main sections, preliminary considerations and familiar sub-genres.  The author does a great job at appealing to its audience with this chapter.  There is not much to critic about this chapter as the chapter does a great job at explaining the points made and providing opportunities for the readers to continue their reading.