Features - Prose Parser

Readability & Complexity

Use cases: Writers checking accessibility, educators matching texts to reading levels, editors simplifying content.

Metric	What It Measures	How to Interpret
Flesch Reading Ease	Text difficulty using syllables and sentence length	0-100 scale. Higher = easier. 60-70 is standard. 90+ is very easy. Below 30 is academic.
Flesch-Kincaid Grade	U.S. school grade needed to understand the text	Grade 8 = 8th grader can read it. Most popular fiction is grades 7-9.
Gunning Fog Index	Years of formal education needed	Similar to grade level. 12+ suggests college-level complexity.
SMOG Index	Simple Measure of Gobbledygook	Best for 30+ sentences. Used for health/medical writing assessment.
Coleman-Liau Index	Grade level using character counts (not syllables)	Useful alternative when syllable counting is unreliable.
Automated Readability Index	Grade level using characters and words	Computer-friendly metric that doesn't require syllable analysis.
Type-Token Ratio (TTR)	Vocabulary diversity (unique words / total words)	0-1 scale. Higher = more diverse vocabulary. Literary texts: 0.4-0.6.
Complex Word %	Percentage of words with 3+ syllables	Higher percentage = denser, more academic text.

Sentiment Analysis

Use cases: Analyzing narrative emotional arcs, comparing tones across works, identifying emotional peaks in storytelling.

How it works: Uses a lexicon of words with sentiment scores. Accounts for intensifiers ("very", "extremely") that boost sentiment, negations ("don't", "never") that flip polarity, and context words that modify nearby sentiment.

Metric	What It Measures	How to Interpret
Overall Sentiment	Average emotional tone across the text	-1 (very negative) to +1 (very positive). 0 is neutral.
Paragraph Sentiment	Emotional tone per paragraph	Track how mood shifts throughout the narrative.
Sentence Sentiment	Emotional tone per sentence	Fine-grained emotional analysis for dialogue or key moments.
Sentiment Flow Chart	Visual representation of sentiment over time	Rising/falling patterns reveal narrative arcs and emotional beats.

Vocabulary & Lexical Richness

Use cases: Comparing author vocabularies, identifying "crutch words," measuring lexical sophistication.

Metric	What It Measures	How to Interpret
Word Frequency	How often each word appears	Top words reveal themes, character names, and writing tics.
Hapax Legomena	Words appearing exactly once	High hapax ratio = rich, varied vocabulary.
Dis Legomena	Words appearing exactly twice	Combined with hapax, measures vocabulary diversity.
Yule's K	Vocabulary concentration	Higher values = more repetitive word usage.
Simpson's D	Probability two random words match	0-1. Higher = more repetition.
Zipf's Law Analysis	How word frequency follows natural patterns	Most languages follow Zipf's law (frequency is inversely proportional to rank).
Rare Words	Unusual words (5+ letters, appearing 1-2 times)	Identifies specialized vocabulary and unique word choices.
Longest Words	Words with most characters	Reveals technical terms and complex vocabulary.

Sentence & Paragraph Structure

Use cases: Improving sentence variety, adjusting pacing, identifying repetitive patterns.

Metric	What It Measures	How to Interpret
Sentence Count	Total sentences in text	Basic structural metric.
Avg Sentence Length	Average words per sentence	15-20 is conversational. 25+ is complex. Under 10 is choppy.
Sentence Length Distribution	Histogram of sentence lengths	Varied lengths = rhythmic prose. Uniform = monotonous.
Paragraph Count	Total paragraphs	Structural overview.
Avg Paragraph Length	Average words per paragraph	Shorter paragraphs = faster pacing. Longer = more complex ideas.
First Words Analysis	Words that begin sentences	Reveals habitual sentence starters ("The", "He", "I").

N-gram & Phrase Patterns

Use cases: Finding overused phrases, analyzing stylistic fingerprints, identifying catchphrases.

Metric	What It Measures	How to Interpret
Bigrams	Two-word combinations	Common bigrams reveal phrases and collocations.
Trigrams	Three-word combinations	Identifies recurring phrases and stylistic patterns.
Five-grams	Five-word combinations	Captures longer idiomatic expressions.
First Word N-grams	2, 3, and 5 word sentence openers	Reveals habitual sentence opening patterns and variety.
Unique Phrases	Phrases appearing only once	Creative combinations unique to the text.

Part-of-Speech Analysis

Use cases: Balancing prose, reducing adverb overuse, analyzing writing style.

Category	What It Includes	Why It Matters
Nouns	People, places, things, concepts	High noun density = descriptive, concrete prose.
Verbs	Actions and states	High verb density = action-oriented, dynamic writing.
Adjectives	Descriptive modifiers	Overuse can signal purple prose; underuse can be sparse.
Adverbs	Manner, degree, frequency words	Often flagged by editors ("show don't tell").
Pronouns	He, she, they, it, etc.	Reveals POV and character focus.
Prepositions	Spatial/temporal relationships	High counts may indicate wordiness.
Conjunctions	And, but, or, etc.	Reveals sentence complexity and flow.
Determiners	The, a, this, some, etc.	Basic structural words.

Character & Punctuation Analysis

Use cases: Style analysis, identifying dialogue density, matching punctuation style guides.

Metric	What It Measures	How to Interpret
Character Frequency	Count of each letter a-z	Language fingerprint, useful for linguistics.
Character Trigrams	Three-character patterns	Linguistic fingerprint, useful for authorship analysis.
Punctuation Counts	Periods, commas, dashes, etc.	Heavy punctuation = complex sentences or dialogue.
Question Marks	Interrogative sentences	High counts may indicate dialogue or uncertainty.
Exclamation Points	Emphatic sentences	Overuse can feel breathless or juvenile.
Semicolons	Compound sentence connectors	Indicates formal or literary style.
Dashes & Ellipses	Interruptions and trailing thoughts	Common in dialogue and stream-of-consciousness.

Syllable Analysis

Use cases: Simplifying text for broader audiences, matching reading level targets.

Metric	What It Measures	How to Interpret
Total Syllables	Sum of all syllables	Used in readability formulas.
Avg Syllables/Word	Average syllable count per word	Higher = more complex vocabulary. English average: 1.5.
Syllable Distribution	Histogram of syllable counts	Shows vocabulary complexity at a glance.
Polysyllabic Words	Words with 3+ syllables	Key input for Gunning Fog and SMOG indexes.

Text Comparison

Use cases: Benchmarking your writing against published authors, comparing drafts, studying stylistic differences between works.

How it works: Compare any analyzed text against books in our library. A "Compare" button on any analysis page lets you pick a reference text and see a side-by-side breakdown across vocabulary, readability, sentiment, and structure.

Overview Dashboard

Feature	What It Shows	How to Interpret
Radar Chart	5 normalized metrics overlaid on a polar chart	Quickly spot where texts differ most. Larger area = higher scores.
Key Metrics	Side-by-side word count, readability, vocabulary diversity, sentiment, and sentence length	Color-coded differences show where each text leads.

Vocabulary Deep Dive

Feature	What It Shows	How to Interpret
Vocabulary Richness	TTR, Hapax Ratio, Yule's K, Simpson's D, and Top 10 Word % compared side by side	See which text has more diverse or concentrated word usage.
Top Words	Side-by-side bar charts of the 12 most frequent words	Compare dominant words and themes between texts.
Word Length Distribution	Grouped bar chart of word lengths	Longer average word length suggests more complex vocabulary.

Readability Deep Dive

Feature	What It Shows	How to Interpret
Readability Scores	All 6 formulas (Flesch, Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, SMOG, Coleman-Liau, ARI) compared in a grouped bar chart	See at a glance which text is more accessible across every formula.
Contributing Factors	Average sentence length, syllables per word, and complex word percentage	Understand what drives the readability differences.

Sentiment Deep Dive

Feature	What It Shows	How to Interpret
Sentiment Flow	Two overlaid line charts showing emotional tone across each text	Compare narrative arcs and emotional pacing between works.
Sentiment Distribution	Grouped histogram of paragraph sentiment categories	See if a text skews more positive, negative, or neutral overall.
Summary Stats	Average, min, max, and standard deviation of sentiment	Higher std deviation = more emotionally varied text.

Structure Deep Dive

Feature	What It Shows	How to Interpret
Structural Overview	Paragraph count, sentence count, word count, and averages compared side by side	Understand scale and pacing differences between texts.
Sentence Length Distribution	Grouped histogram of sentences by word count	Compare sentence variety and rhythm between authors.
Paragraph Length Distribution	Grouped histogram of paragraphs by word count	Reveals differences in paragraph structure and information density.

What Prose Parser Analyzes