| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain: and never did he employ an island that still existed, or give one
a name which anybody present was old enough to have heard of before.
If you might believe the pilots, he was always conscientiously particular
about little details; never spoke of 'the State of Mississippi,'
for instance--no, he would say, 'When the State of Mississippi was
where Arkansas now is," and would never speak of Louisiana or Missouri
in a general way, and leave an incorrect impression on your mind--
no, he would say, 'When Louisiana was up the river farther,' or 'When
Missouri was on the Illinois side.'
The old gentleman was not of literary turn or capacity, but he used to jot
down brief paragraphs of plain practical information about the river,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr.: pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and
equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning.
Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will
now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns
to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility
in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The
whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of
our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on
the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the
process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of
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