| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: delightful to the eye of freemen, were to me so
many shrouded ghosts, to terrify and torment me
with thoughts of my wretched condition. I have of-
ten, in the deep stillness of a summer's Sabbath,
stood all alone upon the lofty banks of that noble
bay, and traced, with saddened heart and tearful
eye, the countless number of sails moving off to
the mighty ocean. The sight of these always affected
me powerfully. My thoughts would compel utter-
ance; and there, with no audience but the Almighty,
I would pour out my soul's complaint, in my rude
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: the sun shone low under the rim of a thick hard cloud, decorating
the eminences of the landscape with crowns of orange fire. As the
train changed its direction on a curve, the same rays stretched in
through the window, and coaxed open Knight's half-closed eyes.
'You will get out at St. Launce's, I suppose?' he murmured.
'No,' said Stephen, 'I am not expected till to-morrow.' Knight was
silent.
'And you--are you going to Endelstow?' said the younger man
pointedly.
'Since you ask, I can do no less than say I am, Stephen,'
continued Knight slowly, and with more resolution of manner than
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Night and Day by Virginia Woolf: "Garden of Cyrus," and, opening it at a passage which he knew very
nearly by heart, Denham began to read and, for some time, continued to
read.
Rodney resumed his seat, with his manuscript on his knee, and from
time to time he glanced at Denham, and then joined his finger-tips and
crossed his thin legs over the fender, as if he experienced a good
deal of pleasure. At length Denham shut the book, and stood, with his
back to the fireplace, occasionally making an inarticulate humming
sound which seemed to refer to Sir Thomas Browne. He put his hat on
his head, and stood over Rodney, who still lay stretched back in his
chair, with his toes within the fender.
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