| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving: panting and blowing close behind him; he even fancied that he
felt his hot breath. Another convulsive kick in the ribs, and old
Gunpowder sprang upon the bridge; he thundered over the
resounding planks; he gained the opposite side; and now Ichabod
cast a look behind to see if his pursuer should vanish, according
to rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone. Just then he saw the
goblin rising in his stirrups, and in the very act of hurling his
head at him. Ichabod endeavored to dodge the horrible missile,
but too late. It encountered his cranium with a tremendous
crash, --he was tumbled headlong into the dust, and Gunpowder,
the black steed, and the goblin rider, passed by like a whirlwind.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Whirligigs by O. Henry: coat. Looking higher, he discovered a well-worn silk
hat, and beneath it the kindly, smooth face of Colonel
Abner Coltrane.
A little uncertain of the outcome, the colonel waited for
the other to make some sign of recognition. Not in
twenty years had male members of these two families
faced each other in peace. Goree's eyelids puckered as
he strained his blurred sight toward this visitor, and then
he smiled serenely.
"Have you brought Stella and Lucy over to play?"
he said calmly.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: he was to all rebels, he kept order and did justice with a strong
and steady hand; for he brought with him from Normandy the instincts
of a truly great statesman. And in his sons' time matters grew
worse and worse. After that, in the troubles of Stephen's reign,
anarchy let loose tyranny in its most fearful form, and things were
done which recall the cruelties of the old Spanish CONQUISTADORES in
America. Scott's charming romance of "Ivanhoe" must be taken, I
fear, as a too true picture of English society in the time of
Richard I.
And what came of it all? What was the result of all this misery and
wrong?
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