Fog Index

The Fog Index may be used to compute the readability level of any passage. To compute the fog Index:

1. Select a 100 word passage
2. Count the number of sentences in the passage
3. Divide the number of words by the number of sentences to get the average number of words per sentence.
4. Count the number of words having 3 or more syllables.
5. Add the average number of words per sentence to the number of words having 3 or more syllables.
6. Multiply the sum by a fixed constant of .4
7. The product is the readability level of the passage.

Example from my syllabus:

* Debates assume an environment of academic freedom. Input by students and faculty will likely reflect differing viewpoints. It is expected that faculty and students will respect the views of others when expressed in classroom discussions. An honorable goal of higher education is to develop postformal thought, which recognizes that one’s own perspective is only one of many potentially valid views and that life entails many inconsistencies. It also promotes dialectical thinking, which involves considering both sides of an idea simultaneously and then forging them into a synthesis of the original idea and its opposite.

1. 95 words

2. 5 sentences

3. = 19 words/sentence

4. # words of 3 or more syllables = 21

19 + 21 = 40 x .4 = 16.0 (grade level)

How about that, my syllabus is written on a college level! Even more advanced than Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne.