| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: and said again, `What name?'
We sat down and made a nest in the long red grass.
Yulka curled up like a baby rabbit and played with a grasshopper.
Antonia pointed up to the sky and questioned me with her glance.
I gave her the word, but she was not satisfied and pointed to my eyes.
I told her, and she repeated the word, making it sound like `ice.'
She pointed up to the sky, then to my eyes, then back to the sky,
with movements so quick and impulsive that she distracted me,
and I had no idea what she wanted. She got up on her knees and
wrung her hands. She pointed to her own eyes and shook her head,
then to mine and to the sky, nodding violently.
My Antonia |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Falk by Joseph Conrad: no sailor, a bit of a fool too. He could not trust
him, but, to stop his row, he had lent him enough
money to pay all his debts before he left. I was
greatly surprised to hear this. Then Falk could
not be such a miser after all. So much the better
for the girl. For a time he sat silent; then he
picked up a card, and while looking at it he
said:
"You need not think of anything bad. It was
an accident. I've been unfortunate once."
"Then in heaven's name say nothing about it."
Falk |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: You see, Miss Grey, it is just the same as any other trade or
profession: they that wish to prosper must devote themselves body
and soul to their calling; and if they begin to yield to indolence
or self-indulgence they are speedily distanced by wiser
competitors: there is little to choose between a person that ruins
her pupils by neglect, and one that corrupts them by her example.
You will excuse my dropping these little hints: you know it is all
for your own good. Many ladies would speak to you much more
strongly; and many would not trouble themselves to speak at all,
but quietly look out for a substitute. That, of course, would be
the EASIEST plan: but I know the advantages of a place like this
Agnes Grey |
