Appendix: Literary Analysis

A computational reading of The Becoming

This appendix presents a quantitative analysis of the 26 poems in The Becoming, examining patterns in sentiment, language, and the arc of healing across the four acts.

26
poems
3,206
total words
671
lines
+0.09
avg sentiment

Emotional Arc

The journey from darkness to light is visible in the sentiment trajectory below. Each point represents a poem; click to explore. Notice how the emotional tone shifts across the four acts.

Key Findings

Darkest moment: "Lost in Thought" (Act II) with sentiment -0.31
Brightest moment: "The Light of Morning" (Act IV) with sentiment 0.42
Emotional range: 0.73 (from -0.31 to 0.42)

Healing Trajectory

By analyzing the ratio of healing words to trauma words in each poem, we can trace the arc of recovery through the collection.

The Shift

First half: 51% healing language
Second half: 70% healing language
Net shift: +19% toward healing

The Arc Across Acts

This chart shows the raw count of trauma and healing words in each act, revealing how the language shifts from shadow to light across the collection.

All Poems

Click any row to read the poem.

# Title Act Sentiment Words Lines
1 Bathtub Blues Act I -0.14 59 19
2 Drought Act I +0.04 149 32
3 Imaginary Prisons Act I +0.08 191 44
4 Empty Bar Seat Act I -0.02 241 47
5 Make Something of Yourself, Sarah Act II -0.04 49 14
6 The Database Act II +0.17 143 25
7 Empty Calories Act II -0.08 147 23
8 The Need to Be Understood Act II -0.13 140 23
9 Patience Act II +0.39 44 9
10 Lost in Thought Act II -0.31 67 11
11 Metamorphosis Act II -0.03 65 16
12 A New Era Act III +0.16 137 25
13 Woke Me Up Act III +0.06 82 15
14 Insignificant to Magnificent Act III +0.18 178 37
15 The Web Act III +0.16 134 25
16 Dearest Poetry Act III -0.05 149 32
17 The Excitement of Discovery Act III +0.21 255 46
18 Love n' Leave Act IV -0.01 214 38
19 The First of Many Act IV +0.33 170 42
20 For Kenneth Act IV +0.09 57 12
21 Tortoise Heart Act IV -0.12 39 10
22 Blissful Tempest Act IV +0.33 161 31
23 We Jump Act IV +0.14 89 22
24 Transplanted Act IV +0.19 46 15
25 Safe to Thrive Act IV +0.38 110 33
26 The Light of Morning Act IV +0.42 90 25

Extremes

Longest: "The Excitement of Discovery" (255 words)
Shortest: "Tortoise Heart" (39 words)
Average length: 123 words per poem

Methodology

Sentiment analysis uses TextBlob's pattern-based approach, measuring polarity on a scale from -1 (negative) to +1 (positive). Healing and trauma word counts are based on curated lexicons designed for this collection. All analysis is computational and represents one lens through which to view these poems.