| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Man of Business by Honore de Balzac: dinner--'
" 'But what is the matter?' inquired Mlle. Chocardelle.
" 'That little baggage with whom I dined has cleared out and left him!
. . . Yes. Gave him the slip without any warning but a letter, in
which the spelling was all to seek.'
" 'There, Daddy Croizeau, you see what comes of boring a woman--'
" 'It is indeed a lesson, my pretty lady,' said the guileful Croizeau.
'Meanwhile, I have never seen a man in such a state. Our friend
Denisart cannot tell his left hand from his right; he will not go back
to look at the "scene of his happiness," as he calls it. He has so
thoroughly lost his wits, that he proposes that I should buy all
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from An Old Maid by Honore de Balzac: After each disappointment in marriage, the poor lady, led to despise
mankind, began to see them all in a false light. Her character
acquired, necessarily, a secret misanthropy, which threw a tinge of
bitterness into her conversation, and some severity into her eyes.
Celibacy gave to her manners and habits a certain increasing rigidity;
for she endeavored to sanctify herself in despair of fate. Noble
vengeance! she was cutting for God the rough diamond rejected by man.
Before long public opinion was against her; for society accepts the
verdict an independent woman renders on herself by not marrying,
either through losing suitors or rejecting them. Everybody supposed
that these rejections were founded on secret reasons, always ill
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: "Literature?" she protested in a tone of remonstrance. "But this
is perfectly unexpected. I understood we were to talk of Osric
Dane's novel."
Mrs. Ballinger winced at the discrimination, but let it pass.
"We can hardly make that our chief subject--at least not TOO
intentionally," she suggested. "Of course we can let our talk
DRIFT in that direction; but we ought to have some other topic as
an introduction, and that is what I wanted to consult you about.
The fact is, we know so little of Osric Dane's tastes and
interests that it is difficult to make any special preparation."
"It may be difficult," said Mrs. Plinth with decision, "but it is
|
