[Tutor] Help on reading a plain file of names

[apple owner]

Hello there,
I am new to python and I am trying to open a plain text file of names and to see the number of names that start with specific letters and display them in a bar graph. I have python version 3.2 and have the graphics.py package as well. If anybody out there knows how I could do this, with specific examples, please email me back, it would be much appreciated. LIke i said, i'm new to python, but very curious and willing to learn it.