| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: deep voice boomed from somewhere just below.
"Fire!" he yelled. "The stable's on fire!"
I could see him in the glare dancing up and down on the drive,
and a moment later Halsey joined him. Alex was awake and running
down the stairs, and in five minutes from the time the fire was
discovered, three of the maids were sitting on their trunks in
the drive, although, excepting a few sparks, there was no fire
nearer than a hundred yards.
Gertrude seldom loses her presence of mind, and she ran to the
telephone. But by the time the Casanova volunteer fire
department came toiling up the hill the stable was a furnace,
The Circular Staircase |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: in the speeches of the gaunt and bronzed vet-
erans. He veiled a glance of disdain at his fel-
lows who strewed the ground, choking with dust,
red from perspiration, misty-eyed, disheveled.
They were gulping at their canteens, fierce to
wring every mite of water from them, and they
polished at their swollen and watery features
with coat sleeves and bunches of grass.
However, to the youth there was a consider-
able joy in musing upon his performances during
the charge. He had had very little time pre-
The Red Badge of Courage |
