| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from McTeague by Frank Norris: poser, a rider of bicycles, a man about town, who wore
astonishing waistcoats and bet money on greyhound
coursing. Trina was McTeague's first experience. With her
the feminine element suddenly entered his little world. It
was not only her that he saw and felt, it was the woman, the
whole sex, an entire new humanity, strange and alluring,
that he seemed to have discovered. How had he ignored it so
long? It was dazzling, delicious, charming beyond all
words. His narrow point of view was at once enlarged and
confused, and all at once he saw that there was something
else in life besides concertinas and steam beer. Everything
McTeague |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: the insignificant figure of Huish, where it grovelled, apparently
insensible, at the base of the figure-head.
'Dead?' he asked.
'No, he's not dead,' said Davis.
'And Attwater?' asked Herrick.
'Now you just shut your head!' replied Davis. 'You can do that, I
fancy, and by God, I'll show you how! I'll stand no more of your
drivel.'
They waited accordingly in silence till the boat bumped on
the furthest piers; then raised Huish, head and heels, carried
him down the gangway, and flung him summarily in the bottom.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: by a thousand little incidents which any one can imagine; for love is
in some respects always the same. They studied each other through it
all, as much as lovers can.
"Well, well; a flirtation never turned so quickly into a love match,"
said the old uncle, who kept an eye on the two young people as a
naturalist watches an insect in the microscope.
The speech alarmed Monsieur and Madame Fontaine. The old Vendeen had
ceased to be so indifferent to his daughter's prospects as he had
promised to be. He went to Paris to seek information, and found none.
Uneasy at this mystery, and not yet knowing what might be the outcome
of the inquiry which he had begged a Paris friend to institute with
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Edingburgh Picturesque Notes by Robert Louis Stevenson: of sisters, and the chalk lines are thickly drawn, and
run through the midst of many private homes. Edinburgh
is a city of churches, as though it were a place of
pilgrimage. You will see four within a stone-cast at the
head of the West Bow. Some are crowded to the doors;
some are empty like monuments; and yet you will ever find
new ones in the building. Hence that surprising clamour
of church bells that suddenly breaks out upon the Sabbath
morning from Trinity and the sea-skirts to Morningside on
the borders of the hills. I have heard the chimes of
Oxford playing their symphony in a golden autumn morning,
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