| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Riverman by Stewart Edward White: hold her against the forward fling of the water, but what she lost
thus she regained on the seaward slopes of the waves and in their
hollows. Thus she hovered on the edge of the breakers, awaiting her
chance.
As long as the seas rolled in steadily, and nothing broke, she was
safe. But if one of the waves should happen to crest and break, as
many of them did, the weight of water catching the tug on her flat,
broad stern deck would indubitably bury her. The situation was
awful in its extreme simplicity. Would Captain Marsh see his
opportunity before the law of chances would bring along the wave
that would overwhelm him?
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Essays & Lectures by Oscar Wilde: think we may be pardoned a little enthusiasm over the dress of the
time of Charles I., so beautiful indeed, that in spite of its
invention being with the Cavaliers it was copied by the Puritans.
And the dress for the children of that time must not be passed
over. It was a very golden age of the little ones. I do not think
that they have ever looked so lovely as they do in the pictures of
that time. The dress of the last century in England is also
peculiarly gracious and graceful. There is nothing bizarre or
strange about it, but it is full of harmony and beauty. In these
days, when we have suffered dreadfully from the incursions of the
modern milliner, we hear ladies boast that they do not wear a dress
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: observations that weakened it, and which, moreover, were not in
themselves comforting.
From the vestibule to the countess's door a stair carpet, held at each
step by a brass rod, made a soft ascent to the feet of visitors; this,
too, had been removed. A screen-door covered with green velvet and
studded with brass nails had hitherto protected the entrance to the
apartment; of that no sign, except the injury to the wall done by the
workmen in taking it away. For a moment the barrister thought, in his
agitation, that he must have mistaken the floor, but, casting his eye
over the baluster he saw that he had not passed the entresol. Madame
de Godollo must, therefore, be in the act of moving away.
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