| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber: When all the sly fastenings were secure I stood at
gaze.
"Nose is shiny," I announced, searching in a drawer
for chamois and powder.
Frau Nirlanger raised an objecting hand. "But Konrad
does not approve of such things. He has said so. He
has--"
"You tell your Konrad that a chamois skin isn't half
as objectionable as a shiny one. Come here and let me
dust this over your nose and chin, while I breathe a
prayer of thanks that I have no overzealous husband near
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Collected Articles by Frederick Douglass: So, on the day of the marriage ceremony, we took our little luggage
to the steamer John W. Richmond, which, at that time, was one of the line
running between New York and Newport, R. I. Forty-three years ago
colored travelers were not permitted in the cabin, nor allowed abaft
the paddle-wheels of a steam vessel. They were compelled,
whatever the weather might be,--whether cold or hot, wet or dry,--
to spend the night on deck. Unjust as this regulation was,
it did not trouble us much; we had fared much harder before.
We arrived at Newport the next morning, and soon after an
old fashioned stage-coach, with "New Bedford" in large yellow letters
on its sides, came down to the wharf. I had not money enough to pay our fare,
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Crito by Plato: Socrates, instead of opening your eyes--you are in the habit of asking and
answering questions. Tell us,--What complaint have you to make against us
which justifies you in attempting to destroy us and the state? In the
first place did we not bring you into existence? Your father married your
mother by our aid and begat you. Say whether you have any objection to
urge against those of us who regulate marriage?' None, I should reply.
'Or against those of us who after birth regulate the nurture and education
of children, in which you also were trained? Were not the laws, which have
the charge of education, right in commanding your father to train you in
music and gymnastic?' Right, I should reply. 'Well then, since you were
brought into the world and nurtured and educated by us, can you deny in the
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Across The Plains by Robert Louis Stevenson: to the place, lest the painter, most gregarious of animals, should
find himself alone. And no sooner are these first difficulties
overcome, than fresh perils spring up upon the other side; and the
bourgeois and the tourist are knocking at the gate. This is the
crucial moment for the colony. If these intruders gain a footing,
they not only banish freedom and amenity; pretty soon, by means of
their long purses, they will have undone the education of the
innkeeper; prices will rise and credit shorten; and the poor
painter must fare farther on and find another hamlet. "Not here, O
Apollo!" will become his song. Thus Trouville and, the other day,
St. Raphael were lost to the arts. Curious and not always edifying
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