Black Beauty: Pace
16 lenses on pace for Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 D14 D15 D16
D1. Chapter length in words, as a chart. Count
49 chapters, median 1,214 words. See the full lens on the book page.
D2. Mean sentence length per chapter. Count
Mean 24.5 words. See the full lens on the book page.
D3. Paragraph length per chapter. Count
Paragraphs average 66 words.
Mean paragraph words, chapter by chapter
D4. Scene against summary: how much is shown live? AI
Most chapters show scenes live with dialogue and action. Chapters 28, 29, 39 use summary to cover multiple job-horse experiences. The ratio favours scene over summary throughout.
Chapters: Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 39
This was the sort of experience we job horses often came in for (Ch 28, para 20)
What were horses made for, if not to drag people uphill? Walk! A good joke indeed! (Ch 29, para 3)
D5. Action against reflection, per chapter. AI
Early chapters (1 to 21) balance action with Beauty's reflection on events. Later chapters (32 to 49) increase reflection as Beauty processes suffering and observes human nature. Quiet chapters like 6, 10, 27 are mostly reflection.
Chapters: Ch 6, Ch 10, Ch 27, Ch 33, Ch 40
I often thought of John's words when I came to know more of the world (Ch 19, para 13)
What I suffered with that rein for four long months in my lady's carriage it would be hard to describe (Ch 23, para 12)
D6. Tension score per chapter (1 to 5) as a curve. AI
Peak 5 of 5, mean 2.9. See the full lens on the book page.
D7. Emotional arc of the whole book, matched to the six shapes. Count
Man in a hole (fall then rise). See the full lens on the book page.
D8. Chapter endings: cliffhanger, question, reveal or quiet close. AI
20 of 49 chapters end on a hook. See the full lens on the book page.
D9. Chapter openings: in scene, in summary, or after a time jump. AI
Most chapters open in scene or with Beauty's immediate observation. Chapter 21 opens with summary of news. Chapter 27 opens with Beauty in a meadow. Chapter 32 opens at the horse fair in action.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 21, Ch 27, Ch 32, Ch 48
The news fell upon the household like the tolling of a deathbell (Ch 21, para 1)
she had been ruined by hard riding, and was now turned off to see what rest would do (Ch 27, para 1)
D10. Do chapters and sentences get shorter near the climax? Count
In the last fifth, chapters run at 1.04 times the length of earlier ones, and sentences at 0.93 times. So things speed up near the end.
D11. Dialogue density against pace. Count
Link between dialogue share and chapter length: -0.02 (1 is a perfect match, 0 none). Between dialogue share and tension: -0.24.
Dialogue % per chapter, chapter by chapter
D12. Time jumps and how they are signalled. Both
29 time jump phrases in the narration, such as 'next morning' or 'years later'.
| Where | Phrase |
|---|---|
| c2p16 | many days after |
| c3p2 | next day |
| c5p2 | next morning |
| c5p9 | next day |
| c5p23 | A few days after |
| c7p6 | next morning |
| c14p17 | a few days after |
| c16p21 | next morning |
Time jump phrases, chapter by chapter
Ch 2, para 16: Not many days after we heard the church-bell tolling for a long time, and looking over the gate we saw a long, strange black coach that was covered …
Ch 3, para 2: When I was four years old Squire Gordon came to look at me. He examined my eyes, my mouth, and my legs; he felt them all down; and …
Ch 5, para 2: The next morning he took me into the yard and gave me a good grooming, and just as I was going into my box, with my coat soft …
Ch 5, para 9: The next day I was brought up for my master. I remembered my mother's counsel and my good old master's, and I tried to do exactly what he …
Ch 5, para 23: A few days after this I had to go out with Ginger in the carriage. I wondered how we should get on together; but except laying her ears …
Ch 7, para 6: “If I did not do exactly what he wanted he would get put out, and make me run round with that long rein in the training field till …
Time jumps are signalled by summary passages and chapter breaks. Chapter 28 jumps through months of job-horse work. Chapter 31 covers weeks of neglect. Chapter 47 compresses months under Skinner's brutal care.
Chapters: Ch 28, Ch 31, Ch 47
This was the sort of experience we job horses often came in for (Ch 28, para 20)
I never knew till now the utter misery of a cab-horse's life (Ch 47, para 2)
D13. Info dump spots: long runs with no action or speech. Both
1 stretches of 900 words or more with no speech at all. These are where description, summary or backstory pile up.
| Starts at | Words | Paragraphs |
|---|---|---|
| c3p3 | 1104 | 10 |
Chapter 10 has a long discussion of fashion cruelties with no action. Chapter 11 contains extended dialogue about check-reins and animal welfare. Chapter 34 is Captain's war story with minimal action.
Chapters: Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 34
I had been driven with a check-rein by the dealer, and I hated it worse than anything else; but in this place we were reined far tighter, the coachman and his master thinking we looked more stylish so. (Ch 8, para 2)
My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt (Ch 38, para 17)
D14. Reading time per chapter. Count
About 4.0 hours to read at 250 words a minute. The longest chapter takes 8.8 minutes.
Minutes per chapter, chapter by chapter
D15. Micro tension in quiet scenes. AI
Quiet scenes gain tension through Beauty's emotional stakes. Chapter 6 shows his longing for liberty. Chapter 27 shows separation from Ginger. Chapter 36 shows Jerry's moral struggle over Sundays.
Chapters: Ch 6, Ch 27, Ch 36
What I suffered with that rein for four long months in my lady's carriage it would be hard to describe (Ch 23, para 12)
Real religion is the best and truest thing in the world, and the only thing that can make a man really happy (Ch 36, para 22)
D16. Section breaks per chapter. Count
0 section breaks marked in the text, in 0 of 49 chapters.
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