| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: make our way into the fine residence where the official was housed at
the expense of the nation. Emilie had spent her childhood on the
family estate, enjoying the abundance which suffices for the joys of
early youth; her lightest wishes had been law to her sisters, her
brothers, her mother, and even her father. All her relations doted on
her. Having come to years of discretion just when her family was
loaded with the favors of fortune, the enchantment of life continued.
The luxury of Paris seemed to her just as natural as a wealth of
flowers or fruit, or as the rural plenty which had been the joy of her
first years. Just as in her childhood she had never been thwarted in
the satisfaction of her playful desires, so now, at fourteen, she was
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Margret Howth: A Story of To-day by Rebecca Harding Davis: together; it was scarcely his fault, if he thought of them as
one, or muttered, "Damnable clog!" as he sat down to write, his
cold eye growing colder. But he did not argue the question any
longer; decision had come keenly in one moment, fixed,
unalterable.
If, through the long day, the starved heart of the man called
feebly for its natural food, he called it a paltry weakness; or
if the old thought of the quiet, pure little girl in the office
below came back to him, he--he wished her well, he hoped she
might succeed in her work, he would always be ready to lend her a
helping hand. So many years (he was ashamed to think how many)
Margret Howth: A Story of To-day |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Two Brothers by Honore de Balzac: persuaded the owner of the house to put a skylight in the roof. The
garret was turned into a vast hall painted in chocolate-color by
Joseph himself. On the walls he hung a few sketches. Agathe
contributed, not without reluctance, an iron stove; so that her son
might be able to work at home, without, however, abandoning the studio
of Gros, nor that of Schinner.
The constitutional party, supported chiefly by officers on half-pay
and the Bonapartists, were at this time inciting "emeutes" around the
Chamber of Deputies, on behalf of the Charter, though no one actually
wanted it. Several conspiracies were brewing. Philippe, who dabbled in
them, was arrested, and then released for want of proof; but the
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