literary criticism by norming study comment boxes.

A whimsically selected sample of the freeform comments on all the stories I wrote for my research:

• You can't run slowly. Slow running is walking.
• Rhinoes are the coolest.
• Please clarify washouts?
• Why would she be walking quickly in a beautiful garden?
• I've never heard “circuitous” used to describe a trail, or to describe anything for that matter.
• Is “buffaloes” really the plural?
• It's hard to tell without knowing whether she physically stops at the occasional small towns.
• I don't imagine that she is afraid of waking the sheep, unlike our previous traveler and the more dangerous rhinoes.
• Why does she let the rabbits go?
• Is the lack of punctuation intentional?
• If the fire is in the pit, how can it be chasing Veronica?
• Steve? What does Steve have to do with anything?
• Biking on hills is slow, even for bikers in sheep pastures whose names translate to “ewe.”

(I am humbled by the number of people, both in this and the real study run, who were confused when the story referred to one person and the question referred to another. It was supposed to be an easy no! Honest!)