| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass: C. Calhoun--one of the mightiest men that ever stood up in the
American senate--did not deem it beneath him; and he probably
studied it as deeply, though not as honestly, as Gerrit Smith, or
William Lloyd Garrison. He evinced the greatest familiarity with
the subject; and the greatest efforts of his last years in the
senate had direct reference to this movement. His eagle eye
watched every new development connected with it; and he was ever
prompt to inform the south of every important step in its
progress. He never allowed himself to make light of it; but
always spoke of it and treated it as a matter of grave import;
and in this he showed himself a master of the mental, moral, and
My Bondage and My Freedom |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Man of Business by Honore de Balzac: Humaine/. Young La Palferine, in spite of his title of Count and his
great descent, which, alas! means a great descent in fortune likewise,
had honored the notary's little establishment with his presence.
At dinner, in such a house, one does not expect to meet the
patriarchal beef, the skinny fowl and salad of domestic and family
life, nor is there any attempt at the hypocritical conversation of
drawing-rooms furnished with highly respectable matrons. When, alas!
will respectability be charming? When will the women in good society
vouchsafe to show rather less of their shoulders and rather more wit
or geniality? Marguerite Turquet, the Aspasia of the Cirque-Olympique,
is one of those frank, very living personalities to whom all is
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: "Trust me for that," said she, "I will not lose sight of you
when once we set about it, and I imagine that some of those who
are devouring your substance will then bespatter the pavement
with their blood and brains. I will begin by disguising you so
that no human being shall know you; I will cover your body with
wrinkles; you shall lose all your yellow hair; I will clothe you
in a garment that shall fill all who see it with loathing; I
will blear your fine eyes for you, and make you an unseemly
object in the sight of the suitors, of your wife, and of the son
whom you left behind you. Then go at once to the swineherd who
is in charge of your pigs; he has been always well affected
The Odyssey |
