This example comes from a consulting project where the researcher is interested in uncovering the internal structure of Revelation. The main thesis of the researcher is that the structure of Revelation is formed by the author coordinating repeated phrases. In particular, there is special interest in the possibility of these repeated phrases forming a chiasmus, with the gospel according to Mark as a poignant example and comparison.
Revelation as compared to Mark
As shown in the following two charts the measured narrative flow of Revelation and Mark develop as anticipated by literary theorists.
Fig. 1 Revelation’s Narrative Arc
Fig. 2 Mark’s Narrative Arc
While each book uses words unique to its author and narrative (Fig. 3) the distribution is similar (Fig. 4).
Fig. 3 Relative Term Frequency of Revelation vs Mark
Fig. 4 Zipfian Distribution of Revelation and Mark
Repeating structure of Revelation
Repeating Words in Revelation
