Java - 896 chars
931 chars
1233 chars made unreadable
1977 chars "uncompressed"
Update: I have aggressively reduced the character count. Omits single-letter words per updated spec.
I envy C# and LINQ so much.
import java.util.*;import java.io.*;import static java.util.regex.Pattern.*;class g{public static void main(String[] a)throws Exception{PrintStream o=System.out;Map w=new HashMap();Scanner s=new Scanner(new File(a[0])).useDelimiter(compile("[^a-z]+|\\b(the|and|of|to|.|it|in|or|is)\\b",2));while(s.hasNext()){String z=s.next().trim().toLowerCase();if(z.equals(""))continue;w.put(z,(w.get(z)==null?0:w.get(z))+1);}List v=new Vector(w.values());Collections.sort(v);List q=new Vector();int i,m;i=m=v.size()-1;while(q.size()<22){for(String t:w.keySet())if(!q.contains(t)&&w.get(t).equals(v.get(i)))q.add(t);i--;}int r=80-q.get(0).length()-4;String l=String.format("%1$0"+r+"d",0).replace("0","_");o.println(" "+l);o.println("|"+l+"| "+q.get(0)+" ");for(i=m-1;i>m-22;i--){o.println("|"+l.substring(0,(int)Math.round(r*(v.get(i)*1.0)/v.get(m)))+"| "+q.get(m-i)+" ");}}}
"Readable":
import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
import static java.util.regex.Pattern.*;
class g
{
public static void main(String[] a)throws Exception
{
PrintStream o = System.out;
Map w = new HashMap();
Scanner s = new Scanner(new File(a[0]))
.useDelimiter(compile("[^a-z]+|\\b(the|and|of|to|.|it|in|or|is)\\b",2));
while(s.hasNext())
{
String z = s.next().trim().toLowerCase();
if(z.equals(""))
continue;
w.put(z,(w.get(z) == null?0:w.get(z))+1);
}
List v = new Vector(w.values());
Collections.sort(v);
List q = new Vector();
int i,m;
i = m = v.size()-1;
while(q.size()<22)
{
for(String t:w.keySet())
if(!q.contains(t)&&w.get(t).equals(v.get(i)))
q.add(t);
i--;
}
int r = 80-q.get(0).length()-4;
String l = String.format("%1$0"+r+"d",0).replace("0","_");
o.println(" "+l);
o.println("|"+l+"| "+q.get(0)+" ");
for(i = m-1; i > m-22; i--)
{
o.println("|"+l.substring(0,(int)Math.round(r*(v.get(i)*1.0)/v.get(m)))+"| "+q.get(m-i)+" ");
}
}
}
Output of Alice:
_________________________________________________________________________
|_________________________________________________________________________| she
|_______________________________________________________________| you
|_____________________________________________________________| said
|_____________________________________________________| alice
|_______________________________________________| was
|____________________________________________| that
|____________________________________| as
|_________________________________| her
|______________________________| with
|______________________________| at
|___________________________| on
|__________________________| all
|________________________| this
|________________________| for
|_______________________| had
|_______________________| but
|______________________| be
|______________________| not
|____________________| they
|____________________| so
|___________________| very
|___________________| what
Output of Don Quixote (also from Gutenberg):
________________________________________________________________________
|________________________________________________________________________| that
|________________________________________________________| he
|______________________________________________| for
|__________________________________________| his
|________________________________________| as
|__________________________________| with
|_________________________________| not
|_________________________________| was
|________________________________| him
|______________________________| be
|___________________________| don
|_________________________| my
|_________________________| this
|_________________________| all
|_________________________| they
|________________________| said
|_______________________| have
|_______________________| me
|______________________| on
|______________________| so
|_____________________| you
|_____________________| quixote
