Paragraph Length in Heart of Darkness: Some Basic Numbers and Charts

6 Pages Posted: 29 Jul 2011

Date Written: July 27, 2011

Abstract

Heart of Darkness is a novella that is roughly 38,000 words long and divided into three sections. Paragraphs range in length from 4 words to just over 1500. The overall distribution is exponential with a mean of 193 words and a median of 129. When the distribution is charted with the paragraphs in serial order the picture is ‘spiky’ with an envelope having a crude pyramidal form. The distributions of individual sections are exponential, but with different means and medians and with different serial shapes. It is suggested that such distributions are an aspect of prose form.

Keywords: prose, narrative, novel, paragraph, distribution, exponential

Suggested Citation

Benzon, William L., Paragraph Length in Heart of Darkness: Some Basic Numbers and Charts (July 27, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1896506 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1896506

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