| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: good-humour everywhere abroad, and left at home a solitary
mansion and a pining spouse.
At length, inconvenienced in his money affairs, and tired even of
the short time which he spent in his own dull house, Sir Philip
Forester determined to take a trip to the Continent, in the
capacity of a volunteer. It was then common for men of fashion
to do so; and our knight perhaps was of opinion that a touch of
the military character, just enough to exalt, but not render
pedantic, his qualities as a BEAU GARCON, was necessary to
maintain possession of the elevated situation which he held in
the ranks of fashion.
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Coxon Fund by Henry James: genius, the more tragic. If he wasn't barefoot in the mire he was
sure to be unconventionally shod. These were the things Adelaide
and I, who were old enough friends to stare at each other in
silence, talked about when we didn't speak. When we spoke it was
only about the brilliant girl George Gravener was to marry and whom
he had brought out the other Sunday. I could see that this
presentation had been happy, for Mrs. Mulville commemorated it
after her sole fashion of showing confidence in a new relation.
"She likes me--she likes me": her native humility exulted in that
measure of success. We all knew for ourselves how she liked those
who liked her, and as regards Ruth Anvoy she was more easily won
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: conical little skull, definite as animal desires.
The door opened; Miss Nellie and her music-master stood
behind it, but blind Samson, who was so sensitive to presences,
did not know they were there. He was feeling out the pattern
that lay all ready-made on the big and little keys.
When he paused for a moment, because the sound was wrong
and he wanted another, Miss Nellie spoke softly.
He whirled about in a spasm of terror, leaped forward in the dark,
struck his head on the open window, and fell screaming and
bleeding to the floor. He had what his mother called a fit.
The doctor came and gave him opium.
My Antonia |
