| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: and he asked them about their affairs and gave them advice
as usual. He thought the future looked hopeful for them.
Ambrosch was a far-seeing fellow; he soon realized that
his oxen were too heavy for any work except breaking sod,
and he succeeded in selling them to a newly arrived German.
With the money he bought another team of horses, which grandfather
selected for him. Marek was strong, and Ambrosch worked him hard;
but he could never teach him to cultivate corn, I remember.
The one idea that had ever got through poor Marek's thick
head was that all exertion was meritorious. He always bore
down on the handles of the cultivator and drove the blades
My Antonia |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: natural voice, and proceeded to business. "Now, my man," he
would say, "you ship A. B. at so many dollars, American gold
coin. Sign your name here, if you have one, and can write."
Whereupon, and the name (with infinite hard breathing) being
signed, the commissioner would proceed to fill in the man's
appearance, height, etc., on the official form. In this task of
literary portraiture he seemed to rely wholly upon temperament;
for I could not perceive him to cast one glance on any of his
models. He was assisted, however, by a running commentary
from the captain: "Hair blue and eyes red, nose five foot seven,
and stature broken"--jests as old, presumably, as the American
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