The purpose of this pilot study was to provide data from which tentative conclusions could be made about adults and their ability to handle literary abstractions. A sample of 93 inmates (all male, 26 Negro, 67 white) at Sumter Correctional Institution was randomly chosen and asked to verbalize their reactions to four comic strips and to write their responses at the end of each segment of a fifth strip. Six personal characteristics; race, age, IQ, reading grade level, last enrolled grade, and the person's marital status were assumed and associated to one or more of the literary responses. The study also showed that adults respond much more freely and meaningfully when they can verbalize orally. Recommendations for similar studies with other ethnic groups were made. (PT)