comment on structure

"The Big Sea" is divided into three parts, each emphasizing a certain phase of Langston's early life. The first part, "Twenty-One," is divided into nineteen short chapters. Most chapters in the book are just a few pages, although some are much longer, and some are less than a page. "Twenty-One" begins with Langston being twenty-one years old, and then he flashes back to his entire childhood, leading up to his first sea voyage as part of a ship's crew.