| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: them in 1175. All these accepted Henry the Second of England as their
Lord and King, swearing to be loyal to him and his successors forever.
Such was England's brutal and unjustifiable conquest of Ireland.
Ireland was not a nation, it was a tribal chaos. The Irish nation of that
day is a legend, a myth, built by poetic imagination. During the cen-
turies succeeding Henry the Second, were many eras of violence and
bloodshed. In reading the story, it is hard to say which side committed
the most crimes. During those same centuries, violence and bloodshed and
oppression existed everywhere in Europe. Undoubtedly England was very
oppressive to Ireland at times; but since the days of Gladstone she has
steadily endeavored to relieve Ireland, with the result that today she is
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: when I praise the superiority of his wife," replied des Lupeaulx,
piqued by the minister's sarcasm; "but if Madame la Comtesse would be
willing to judge for herself--"
"You want me to invite her to my next ball, don't you? Your clever
woman will meet a knot of other women who only come here to laugh at
us, and when they hear 'Madame Rabourdin' announced--"
"But Madame Firmiani is announced at the Foreign Office parties?"
"Ah, but she was born a Cadignan!" said the newly created count, with
a savage look at his general-secretary, for neither he nor his wife
were noble.
The persons present thought important matters were being talked over,
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