| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: chair, because Mr Verloc instantly took his wife's place in it. Mr
Verloc did not cover his face with his hands, but a sombre
thoughtfulness veiled his features. A term of imprisonment could
not be avoided. He did not wish now to avoid it. A prison was a
place as safe from certain unlawful vengeances as the grave, with
this advantage, that in a prison there is room for hope. What he
saw before him was a term of imprisonment, an early release and
then life abroad somewhere, such as he had contemplated already, in
case of failure. Well, it was a failure, if not exactly the sort
of failure he had feared. It had been so near success that he
could have positively terrified Mr Vladimir out of his ferocious
The Secret Agent |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Merry Men by Robert Louis Stevenson: unavailing penitence, she would regret the trousers. No juncture
in her life had so much exercised her judgment. In the meantime
the Doctor had become vastly pleased with his situation. Two of
the summer boarders still lingered behind the rest, prisoners for
lack of a remittance; they were both English, but one of them spoke
French pretty fluently, and was, besides, a humorous, agile-minded
fellow, with whom the Doctor could reason by the hour, secure of
comprehension. Many were the glasses they emptied, many the topics
they discussed.
'Anastasie,' the Doctor said on the third morning, 'take an example
from your husband, from Jean-Marie! The excitement has done more
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: society owes the wretched mediocrities to whom are intrusted in these
days the election of leaders in all social classes; who proceed,
naturally, to elect themselves and who wage a bitter war against all
true talent. The principle of election applied indiscriminately is
false, and France will some day abandon it.
Nevertheless the modesty, simplicity, and genuine surprise of the good
and gentle Fougeres silenced all envy and all recriminations. Besides,
he had on his side all of his clan who had succeeded, and all who
expected to succeed. Some persons, touched by the persistent energy of
a man whom nothing had discouraged, talked of Domenichino and said:--
"Perseverance in the arts should be rewarded. Grassou hasn't stolen
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