| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from What is Man? by Mark Twain: empire; the rise of Christianity upon its ruins; the spread of
the religion to other lands--and so on; link by link took its
appointed place at its appointed time, the discovery of America
being one of them; our Revolution another; the inflow of English
and other immigrants another; their drift westward (my ancestors
among them) another; the settlement of certain of them in
Missouri, which resulted in ME. For I was one of the unavoidable
results of the crossing of the Rubicon. If the stranger, with
his trumpet blast, had stayed away (which he COULDN'T, for he was
the appointed link) Caesar would not have crossed. What would
have happened, in that case, we can never guess. We only know
What is Man? |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Desert Gold by Zane Grey: began to shoot. The first bullet sent up a great splash of dust
beneath the horse's nose, making him leap as if to hurdle a fence.
The rifle was automatic; Gale needed only to pull the trigger. He
saw now that the raiders behind were in line. Swiftly he worked
the trigger. Suddenly the leading horse leaped convulsively, not
up nor aside, but straight ahead, and then he crashed to the ground
throwing his rider like a catapult, and then slid and rolled. He
half got up, fell back, and kicked; but his rider never moved.
The other rangers sawed the reins of plunging steeds and whirled
to escape the unseen battery. Gale slipped a fresh clip into the
magazine of his rifle. He restrained himself from useless firing
Desert Gold |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Collected Articles by Frederick Douglass: unreasoning prejudice, and this will be done.
Men denounce the negro for his prominence in this discussion;
but it is no fault of his that in peace as in war, that in
conquering Rebel armies as in reconstructing the rebellious States,
the right of the negro is the true solution of our national
troubles. The stern logic of events, which goes directly to the
point, disdaining all concern for the color or features of men,
has determined the interests of the country as identical with
and inseparable from those of the negro.
The policy that emancipated and armed the negro--now seen to
have been wise and proper by the dullest--was not certainly more
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