| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Virginian by Owen Wister: guess, sometimes I--See here," he exclaimed, for the Virginian
was gravely considering him, "I may have talked some, but I
walked a whole lot. You didn't catch ME squandering no speed.
Soon as--"
"I noticed," said the Virginian, "thinkin' came quicker to yu'
than runnin'."
I was glad I was not Shorty, to have my measure taken merely by
my way of missing a train. And of course I was sorry that I had
kicked my valise.
"Oh, I could tell yu'd been enjoyin' us!" said Scipio. "Observin'
somebody else's scrape always kind o' rests me too. Maybe you're
 The Virginian |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson: sand; but that vast fog ocean lay in a trance of silence, nor
did the sweet air of the morning tremble with a sound.
As I continued to sit upon the dump, I began to observe that
this sea was not so level as at first sight it appeared to
be. Away in the extreme south, a little hill of fog arose
against the sky above the general surface, and as it had
already caught the sun, it shone on the horizon like the
topsails of some giant ship. There were huge waves,
stationary, as it seemed, like waves in a frozen sea; and
yet, as I looked again, I was not sure but they were moving
after all, with a slow and august advance. And while I was
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery: "I can't think what it can be," said Anne in despair, "unless
it's that Moody Spurgeon MacPherson saw you home from prayer
meeting last night. Did he?"
"I should think not," exclaimed Diana indignantly. "I wouldn't
be likely to boast of it if he did, the horrid creature! I knew
you couldn't guess it. Mother had a letter from Aunt Josephine
today, and Aunt Josephine wants you and me to go to town next
Tuesday and stop with her for the Exhibition. There!"
"Oh, Diana," whispered Anne, finding it necessary to lean up against
a maple tree for support, "do you really mean it? But I'm afraid
Marilla won't let me go. She will say that she can't encourage
 Anne of Green Gables |