| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Coxon Fund by Henry James: that had brought her back across the wintry ocean was as much of a
passion as was needed. No impulse equally strong indeed had drawn
George Gravener to America; a circumstance on which, however, I
reflected only long enough to remind myself that it was none of my
business. Ruth Anvoy was distinctly different, and I felt that the
difference was not simply that of her marks of mourning. Mrs.
Mulville told me soon enough what it was: it was the difference
between a handsome girl with large expectations and a handsome girl
with only four hundred a year. This explanation indeed didn't
wholly content me, not even when I learned that her mourning had a
double cause--learned that poor Mr. Anvoy, giving way altogether,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: and made her roll. They might go at any moment. We
looked at them with apprehension. One could not fore-
see which way they would fall.
"Then we retreated aft and looked about us. The
deck was a tangle of planks on edge, of planks on end,
of splinters, of ruined woodwork. The masts rose from
that chaos like big trees above a matted undergrowth.
The interstices of that mass of wreckage were full of
something whitish, sluggish, stirring--of something that
was like a greasy fog. The smoke of the invisible fire
was coming up again, was trailing, like a poisonous thick
Youth |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: to be an accomplished man, physically as well as morally. Besides he
improved himself during the leisure hours which manual occupations left to
him; he read the books found in the case; and after the practical lessons
which were taught by the very necessity of their position, he found in the
engineer for science, and the reporter for languages, masters who were
delighted to complete his education.
The tempest ended about the 9th of March, but the sky remained covered
with clouds during the whole of this last summer month. The atmosphere,
violently agitated by the electric commotions, could not recover its former
purity, and there was almost invariably rain and fog, except for three or
four fine days on which several excursions were made. About this time the
The Mysterious Island |
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 The Yates Pride by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: Mrs. Joseph Glynn flushed a little. "I have not the slightest
curiosity about my neighbors," she said, "but it is impossible to
live just across the road from any house without knowing
something of what is going on, whether one looks or not," said
she, with dignity.
"Ma and I never look out of the windows from curiosity," said
Ethel Glynn, with spirit. Ethel Glynn had a great deal of
spirit, which was evinced in her personal appearance as well as
her tongue. She had an eye to the fashions; her sleeves were
never out of date, nor was the arrangement of her hair.
"For instance," said Ethel, "we never look at the house opposite
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