| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: Lucien had spent the forty-eight hours since the success of his
article in paradise. He was feted and envied; he gained self-
possession; his talk sparkled; he was the brilliant Lucien de Rubempre
who shone for a few months in the world of letters and art. Finot,
with his infallible instinct for discovering ability, scenting it afar
as an ogre might scent human flesh, cajoled Lucien, and did his best
to secure a recruit for the squadron under his command. And Coralie
watched the manoeuvres of this purveyor of brains, saw that Lucien was
nibbling at the bait, and tried to put him on his guard.
"Don't make any engagement, dear boy; wait. They want to exploit you;
we will talk of it to-night."
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: "I know what you are thinking, Edward."
Richards had the embarrassed look of a person who is caught.
"I am ashamed to confess it, Mary, but--"
"It's no matter, Edward, I was thinking the same question myself."
"I hope so. State it."
"You were thinking, if a body could only guess out WHAT THE REMARK
WAS that Goodson made to the stranger."
"It's perfectly true. I feel guilty and ashamed. And you?"
"I'm past it. Let us make a pallet here; we've got to stand watch
till the bank vault opens in the morning and admits the sack. . . Oh
dear, oh dear--if we hadn't made the mistake!"
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: longer doubt was that the unknown island before which the "Speedy" had cast
anchor was inhabited, and that there was, perhaps, a numerous colony ready
to defend it. And yet no one was to be seen, neither on the shore, nor on
the heights. The beach appeared to be absolutely deserted. At any rate,
there was no trace of dwellings. Had the inhabitants fled into the
interior? Thus probably the pirate captain reasoned, and doubtless, like a
prudent man, he wished to reconnoiter the locality before he allowed his
men to venture there.
During an hour and a half, no indication of attack or landing could be
observed on board the brig. Evidently Bob Harvey was hesitating. Even with
his strongest telescopes he could not have perceived one of the settlers
The Mysterious Island |
