| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Euthyphro by Plato: do, that I know nothing about them? Tell me, for the love of Zeus,
whether you really believe that they are true.
EUTHYPHRO: Yes, Socrates; and things more wonderful still, of which the
world is in ignorance.
SOCRATES: And do you really believe that the gods fought with one
another, and had dire quarrels, battles, and the like, as the poets
say, and as you may see represented in the works of great artists? The
temples are full of them; and notably the robe of Athene, which is
carried up to the Acropolis at the great Panathenaea, is embroidered
with them. Are all these tales of the gods true, Euthyphro?
EUTHYPHRO: Yes, Socrates; and, as I was saying, I can tell you, if you
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Main Street by Sinclair Lewis: flat ruddied cheeks, the side of his nose, the depression of his
temples. Not as coy or uneasy lovers but as companions they
walked to the boat, and he lifted her up on the prow.
She began to talk intently, as he rowed: "Erik, you've got
to work! You ought to be a personage. You're robbed of
your kingdom. Fight for it! Take one of these correspon-
dence courses in drawing--they mayn't be any good in themselves,
but they'll make you try to draw and----"
As they reached the picnic ground she perceived that it was
dark, that they had been gone for a long time.
"What will they say?" she wondered.
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: carefully the rag of blue cloth. He had picked it up from the
repulsive heap in the mortuary, because a tailor's name is found
sometimes under the collar. It is not often of much use, but still
- He only half expected to find anything useful, but certainly he
did not expect to find - not under the collar at all, but stitched
carefully on the under side of the lapel - a square piece of calico
with an address written on it in marking ink.
The Chief Inspector removed his smoothing hand.
"I carried it off with me without anybody taking notice," he said.
"I thought it best. It can always be produced if required."
The Assistant Commissioner, rising a little in his chair, pulled
The Secret Agent |
