| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Moran of the Lady Letty by Frank Norris: That same night Wilbur woke in his hammock on the fo'c'stle head
about half-past two. The moon was down, the sky one powder of
stars. There was not a breath of wind. It was so still that he
could hear some large fish playing and breaking off toward the
shore. Then, without the least warning, he felt the schooner
begin to lift under him. He rolled out of his hammock and stood
on the deck. There could be no doubt of it--the whole forepart
was rising beneath him. He could see the bowsprit moving upward
from star to star. Still the schooner lifted; objects on deck
began to slide aft; the oil in the deck-tubs washed over; then, as
there came a wild scrambling of the Chinese crew up the fo'c'stle
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne: thee, how should I meet the eye of that good old man, our
minister, at Salem village? Oh, his voice would make me tremble
both Sabbath day and lecture day."
Thus far the elder traveller had listened with due gravity; but
now burst into a fit of irrepressible mirth, shaking himself so
violently that his snake-like staff actually seemed to wriggle in
sympathy.
"Ha! ha! ha!" shouted he again and again; then composing himself,
"Well, go on, Goodman Brown, go on; but, prithee, don't kill me
with laughing."
"Well, then, to end the matter at once," said Goodman Brown,
Mosses From An Old Manse |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: lines, form; the means are many; the result is one.
"An Italian architect might give us the same sensation that is
produced in us by the introduction to /Mose/, by constructing a walk
through dark, damp avenues of tall, thick trees, and bringing us out
suddenly in a valley full of streams, flowers, and mills, and basking
in the sunshine. In their greatest moments the arts are but the
expression of the grand scenes of nature.
"I am not learned enough to enlarge on the philosophy of music; go and
talk to Capraja; you will be amazed at what he can tell you. He will
say that every instrument that depends on the touch or breath of man
for its expression and length of note, is superior as a vehicle of
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