| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: value." And at this point he remembered that he couldn't swim
anyway.
Ah--THERE was a point which he had been overlooking from the start:
it had to be a service which he had rendered "possibly without
knowing the full value of it." Why, really, that ought to be an
easy hunt--much easier than those others. And sure enough, by-and-
by he found it. Goodson, years and years ago, came near marrying a
very sweet and pretty girl, named Nancy Hewitt, but in some way or
other the match had been broken off; the girl died, Goodson remained
a bachelor, and by-and-by became a soured one and a frank despiser
of the human species. Soon after the girl's death the village found
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: that the subject was a much greater one to him than his friend had
ever supposed.
'Are you married?'
'I am not.'
Knight spoke in an indescribable tone of bitterness that was
almost moroseness.
'And I never shall be,' he added decisively. 'Are you?'
'No,' said Stephen, sadly and quietly, like a man in a sick-room.
Totally ignorant whether or not Knight knew of his own previous
claims upon Elfride, he yet resolved to hazard a few more words
upon the topic which had an aching fascination for him even now.
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: silent, giving confidence in order to attract it--and of this art a
woman is the best master. But its finest secrets do not come to
her until she has passed beyond the uncertain season of compliments
and conquests, and entered into the serenity of a tranquil age.
What is this foolish thing that men say about the impossibility of
true intimacy and converse between the young and the old?
Hamerton, for example, in his book on Human Intercourse, would have
us believe that a difference in years is a barrier between hearts.
For my part, I have more often found it an open door, and a
security of generous and tolerant welcome for the young soldier,
who comes in tired and dusty from the battle-field, to tell his
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