| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lin McLean by Owen Wister: out with a brisk, false hope. It was with a mental hurrah and a foretaste
of a good time coming that he put on his town clothes, after shaving and
admiring himself, and sat down to the square meal. He ate away and drank
with a robust imitation of enjoyment that took in even himself at first.
But the sorrowful process of his spirit went on, for all he could do. As
he groped for the contentment which he saw around him he began to receive
the jokes with counterfeit mirth. Memories took the place of
anticipation, and through their moody shiftings he began to feel a
distaste for the company of his friends and a shrinking from their lively
voices. He blamed them for this at once. He was surprised to think he had
never recognized before how light a weight was Shorty; and here was
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The White Moll by Frank L. Packard: ever harbored. And yet - why not? Wasn't there the essence of
cunning in that very fact? Who would suspect anything of the sort
from a ramshackle, two-story little house like this, whose front
was a woe-begone little store, the proceeds of which might just
barely keep the body and soul of its proprietor together?
The man fumbled with the lock. There was not a single light showing
from the place, but in the dwindling rays of a distant street lamp
she could see the meager window display through the filthy, unwashed
panes. It was evidently a cheap and tawdry notion store, well
suited to its locality. There were toys of the cheapest variety,
stationery of the same grade, cheap pipes, cigarettes, tobacco,
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