| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: deviations may be freely admitted to be inheritable. Perhaps the correct
way of viewing the whole subject, would be, to look at the inheritance of
every character whatever as the rule, and non-inheritance as the anomaly.
The laws governing inheritance are quite unknown; no one can say why the
same peculiarity in different individuals of the same species, and in
individuals of different species, is sometimes inherited and sometimes not
so; why the child often reverts in certain characters to its grandfather or
grandmother or other much more remote ancestor; why a peculiarity is often
transmitted from one sex to both sexes or to one sex alone, more commonly
but not exclusively to the like sex. It is a fact of some little
importance to us, that peculiarities appearing in the males of our domestic
On the Origin of Species |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Cruise of the Jasper B. by Don Marquis: "The cabin is at your service," said Cleggett, for he understood
that she wished to dress for dinner. He conducted her, with a
touch of formality, to his own room in the cabin, which he put at
her disposal, ordering her steamer trunks to be placed in it.
Then, taking with him some necessaries of his own, he withdrew to
the forecastle to make a careful toilet.
It might not have occurred to another man to dress for dinner,
but Cleggett's character was an unusual blend of delicacy and
strength; he perceived subtly that Lady Agatha was of the nature
to appreciate this compliment. At a moment when her fortunes
were at a low ebb what could more cheer a woman and hearten her
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: strong arm and addressed in a well-known voice.
"Take care! my dear barrister; a frightful danger threatens you; you
are running right into it."
La Peyrade, thus arrested, looked round and found himself in the arms
of Phellion.
The scene took place in front of a house which was being pulled down
at the corner of the rues Duphot and Saint-Honore. Posted on the
pavement of the other side of the street, Phellion, whose taste for
watching the process of building our readers may remember, had been
witnessing for the last fifteen minutes the drama of a wall about to
fall beneath the united efforts of a squadron of workmen. Watch in
|
