| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Herbert West: Reanimator by H. P. Lovecraft: temporary edifice, assigned him on his plea that he was devising
new and radical methods for the treatment of hitherto hopeless
cases of maiming. There he worked like a butcher in the midst
of his gory wares -- I could never get used to the levity with
which he handled and classified certain things. At times he actually
did perform marvels of surgery for the soldiers; but his chief
delights were of a less public and philanthropic kind, requiring
many explanations of sounds which seemed peculiar even amidst
that babel of the damned. Among these sounds were frequent revolver-shots
-- surely not uncommon on a battlefield, but distinctly uncommon
in an hospital. Dr. West’s reanimated specimens were not meant
Herbert West: Reanimator |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians by Xenophon: {gonu knemes}, or, as we say, "charity begins at home."
III
I repeat that my position concerning the polity of the Athenians is
this: the type[1] of polity is not to my taste, but given that a
democratic form of government has been agreed upon, they do seem to me
to go the right way to preserve the democracy by the adoption of the
particular type[2] which I have set forth.
[1] Or, "manner."
[2] Or, "manner."
But there are other objections brought, as I am aware, against the
Athenians, by certain people, and to this effect. It not seldom
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: same thought in the same words, repeated twice over in the same passage
without any new aspect or modification of it. And the evasion of
tautology--that is, the substitution of one word of precisely the same
meaning for another--is resented by us equally with the repetition of
words. Yet on the other hand the least difference of meaning or the least
change of form from a substantive to an adjective, or from a participle to
a verb, will often remedy the unpleasant effect. Rarely and only for the
sake of emphasis or clearness can we allow an important word to be used
twice over in two successive sentences or even in the same paragraph. The
particles and pronouns, as they are of most frequent occurrence, are also
the most troublesome. Strictly speaking, except a few of the commonest of
|
