| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift: improved by the same arts, by feeding upon the insects and vermin
of the age. As for us, the Ancients, we are content with the bee,
to pretend to nothing of our own beyond our wings and our voice:
that is to say, our flights and our language. For the rest,
whatever we have got has been by infinite labour and search, and
ranging through every corner of nature; the difference is, that,
instead of dirt and poison, we have rather chosen to till our hives
with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of
things, which are sweetness and light."
It is wonderful to conceive the tumult arisen among the books upon
the close of this long descant of AEsop: both parties took the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: As a child she had done the duties of the full-grown woman, and
she had done them well. She had been faithful to herself.
Providence kindly ordains that the child shall serve a long
apprenticeship before it is called upon to think and act for
itself. Katy had anticipated the period of maturity, and with the
untried soul of a child, had been compelled to grapple with its
duties and its temptations. As her opportunities to be good and
do good were increased, so was her liability to do wrong. She had
her faults, great, grave faults, but she was truly endeavoring to
overcome them.
Tommy had returned from his voyage to Liverpool, and joyous was
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Awakening & Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin: She was sitting there the afternoon of the day the box arrived from
New Orleans. She had possession of the rocker, and she was busily
engaged in sewing upon a diminutive pair of night-drawers.
She had brought the pattern of the drawers for Mrs. Pontellier
to cut out--a marvel of construction, fashioned to enclose a baby's
body so effectually that only two small eyes might look out from
the garment, like an Eskimo's. They were designed for winter wear,
when treacherous drafts came down chimneys and insidious currents
of deadly cold found their way through key-holes.
Mrs. Pontellier's mind was quite at rest concerning the
present material needs of her children, and she could not see the
Awakening & Selected Short Stories |
