Part I. Graham Greene's "The Lost Childhood" begins with a very short paragraph consisting of only two sentences and averaging a length of 33 words per sentence. The length of the first paragraph's sentences is more than the normal length of an average sentence comprised of 21 words. He also has fewer sentences than a typically found in a paragraph. His second sentence in the paragraph, which makes up the majority of the paragraph with 51 words, still …showed first 75 words of 1984 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1984 total…the reader has some direction in picturing these streets and places. James Baldwin seems to be a very efficient writer. His essay is understandable and direct, bringing together both the memories of his father and the circumstances that surrounded them. He effectively describes to the readers growing up black in America. Baldwin is not too wordy nor is his essay plagued with Latinate words allowing the average reader to understand and take away his message.