| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Agesilaus by Xenophon: refused to seize the prize; or who regarded victory in a war waged
against fellow-Hellenes as a species of calamity. Yet this man when a
message was brought him concerning the battle at Corinth,[8] in which
but eight Lacedaemonians had fallen, but of their opponents ten
thousand nearly, showed no sign of exultation, but sighed, saying,
"Alas for Hellas! since those who now lie in their graves, were able,
had they lived, to conquer the hosts of Asia."[9] Again, when some
Corinthian exiles informed him that their city was ripe for surrender,
and showed him the engines by which they were confident they would
take the walls, he refused to make the assault, saying that Hellene
cities ought not to be reduced to slavery, but brought back to a
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: assumed an attitude suggestive of the clinical lecture room as
she replied. "Ellen, my dear boy, is an essentially
romantic person. She is quiet about it, but she runs deep. I
never knew how deep until I came against her on the issue of that
marriage. She was always discontented as a girl; she found
things dull and prosaic, and the ardor of his courtship was
agreeable to her. He met her during her first season in town.
She is handsome, and there were plenty of other men, but I grant
you your scowling brigand was the most picturesque of the lot.
In his courtship, as in everything else, he was theatrical to the
point of being ridiculous, but Ellen's sense of humor is not her
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift: decency and cleanliness: neither did I perceive any difference in
their education made by their difference of sex, only that the
exercises of the females were not altogether so robust; and that
some rules were given them relating to domestic life, and a
smaller compass of learning was enjoined them: for their maxim
is, that among peoples of quality, a wife should be always a
reasonable and agreeable companion, because she cannot always be
young. When the girls are twelve years old, which among them is
the marriageable age, their parents or guardians take them home,
with great expressions of gratitude to the professors, and seldom
without tears of the young lady and her companions.
Gulliver's Travels |
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 Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence: "Or else you can beget children. They both carry on her effort."
"Painting is not living."
"Then live."
"Marry whom?" came the sulky question.
"As best you can."
"Miriam?"
But he did not trust that.
He rose suddenly, went straight to bed. When he got inside
his bedroom and closed the door, he stood with clenched fist.
"Mater, my dear---" he began, with the whole force of his soul.
Then he stopped. He would not say it. He would not admit that he
Sons and Lovers |
