| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: mirror, the dripping spiggots; his father, at the top of the
stairs, his hairy legs sticking out from his nightshirt, his feet
thrust into carpet slippers. He was so much later than usual
that there would certainly be inquiries and reproaches. Paul
stopped short before the door. He felt that he could not be
accosted by his father tonight; that he could not toss again on
that miserable bed. He would not go in. He would tell his
father that he had no carfare and it was raining so hard he had
gone home with one of the boys and stayed all night.
Meanwhile, he was wet and cold. He went around to the back
of the house and tried one of the basement windows, found it
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Madame Firmiani by Honore de Balzac: that gild the days of youth, and judging Madame Firmiani by her
beauty, the old gentleman became convinced that a woman so innately
conscious of her dignity as she appeared to be was incapable of a bad
action. Her dark eyes told of inward peace; the lines of her face were
so noble, the profile so pure, and the passion he had come to
investigate seemed so little to oppress her heart, that the old man
said to himself, while noting all the promises of love and virtue
given by that adorable countenance, "My nephew is committing some
folly."
Madame Firmiani acknowledged to twenty-five. But the Practicals proved
that having married the invisible Firmiani (then a highly respectable
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Just Folks by Edgar A. Guest: She slipped away so gently and the fever left her brow
So softly that we didn't know we'd lost her, but, instead,
We thought her only sleeping as we watched beside her bed.
Then the doctor, I remember, raised his head, as if to say
What his eyes had told already, and Ma fainted dead away.
Up to then I thought that money was the thing I ought to get;
And I fancied, once I had it, I should never have to fret.
But I saw that I had wasted precious hours in seeking wealth;
I had made a tidy fortune, but I couldn't buy her health.
And I saw this truth much clearer than I'd ever seen before:
That the rich man and the poor man have to let death through the door.
Just Folks |
