Day 3 into our experiment, I have already gathered a handful of interesting observations. On Day 2 I sent out a short story from 1886, Anyuta, by Anton Chekhov. I had attached the follow up question: What do you think of these characters? Sifting through the replies to the story I realized the majority of my test subjects had a very shallow take on the story and hadn’t taken much time to fully understand it. Most found Anyuta to be silly for “putting up with Klockhov,” all the while failing to understand that this story shows how flawed Russian society was in this time period. This is one complication I should’ve been more prepared for. The intention behind the stories and literature I send out is not to feel good or happy. It is to provoke thought. One of my subjects responded, “I did not like this story as much as To the Girl That Works at Starbucks,” which was the reading we sent out for Day 1. This response was amusing to me because I never intended for the subjects to necessarily like any of the readings. Once again, the readings aren’t meant to be likable in my opinion. But they are likable because of what compelling ideas they bring to the table. Unfortunately I don’t think my test subjects made it to the table. For future reference I might attach a bit more background to the pieces I send out as they do not hold the same significance when they are misinterpreted.
Other than that the experiment is going okay. There has been a bit of miscommunication between my partner and I but nothing that can’t be resolved easily. I am looking forward to Monday because I am hoping to gather the last of the test subjects that we need. Although I am a little concerned because the experiment has already started. Should we have the new participants read for less days, or try to squeeze them in the final days before the project is due? My partner and I will have some discussing to do.
You experiment is truly fascinating. I cannot wait to hear how it all resolves itself.
As for participants, I suggested to Emma that you could shorten the day count, and double up some readings. If you do this, you would just need to make note of it in your research findings. If you want more help on how to revise the experiment to fit it in, let me know!
Also, I really am glad that you have a clear view on how to analyze literature. You are spot on with the critique on Russian society. If anything, one of your findings could speak to how you realize a majority of people interact with literature or thought provoking texts from a surface level stand point.