| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: John William Draper, M. D., LL. D. Fourth edition. New York: D.
Appleton & Co. 1875. 12mo, pp. xxii., 373. (International
Scientific Series, XII.)
Some twelve years ago, Dr. Draper published a bulky volume
entitled "A History of the Intellectual Development of Europe,"
in which his professed purpose was to show that nations or races
pass through certain definable epochs of development, analogous
to the periods of infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, and old age
in individuals. But while announced with due formality, the
carrying out of the argument was left for the most part to the
headings and running-titles of the several chapters, while in the
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Collection of Antiquities by Honore de Balzac: no caricature however wild, ever caught the haunting fascination of
0those aged women; they come back to me in dreams; their puckered faces
shape themselves in my memory whenever I meet an old woman who puts me
in mind of them by some faint resemblance of dress or feature. And
whether it is that misfortune has initiated me into the secrets of
irremediable and overwhelming disaster; whether that I have come to
understand the whole range of human feelings, and, best of all, the
thoughts of Old Age and Regret; whatever the reason, nowhere and never
again have I seen among the living or in the faces of the dying the
wan look of certain gray eyes that I remember, nor the dreadful
brightness of others that were black.
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Bolshevik tangled up with a machine-gun bullet"
Tom was growing restless under this lampooning of his connection
with The New Democracy.
"What's all this got to do with your being bored?"
Amory considered that it had much to do with it.
"How'll I fit in?" he demanded. "What am I for? To propagate the
race? According to the American novels we are led to believe that
the 'healthy American boy' from nineteen to twenty-five is an
entirely sexless animal. As a matter of fact, the healthier he is
the less that's true. The only alternative to letting it get you
is some violent interest. Well, the war is over; I believe too
This Side of Paradise |
