| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: Bland's away he leaves all kinds of spies an' scouts watchin'
the valley trails. They've all got rifles. You couldn't git by
them.
But when the boss is home there's a difference. Only, of
course, him an' Chess keep their eyes peeled. They both stay to
home pretty much, except when they're playin' monte or poker
over at Benson's. So I say the best bet is to pick out a good
time in the afternoon, drift over careless-like with a couple
of hosses, choke Mrs. Bland or knock her on the head, take
Jennie with you, an' make a rush to git out of the valley. If
you had luck you might pull thet stunt without throwin' a gun.
The Lone Star Ranger |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: but read them over and over before he signed them,
hesitating at them several times, and repeating them: "My
mother's prejudice! and your prejudice! What mysterious thing
can this be?' However, at last he signed it.
'Well, says I, 'my dear, I'll ask you no more under your hand;
but as you are to hear the most unexpected and surprising thing
that perhaps ever befell any family in the world, I beg you to
promise me you will receive it with composure and a presence
of mind suitable to a man of sense.'
'I'll do my utmost,' says he, 'upon condition you will keep me
no longer in suspense, for you terrify me with all these
Moll Flanders |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield: be there in ten minutes. William stuffed that papers back into his
pockets; the young man opposite had long since disappeared. Now the other
two got out. The late afternoon sun shone on women in cotton frocks and
little sunburnt, barefoot children. It blazed on a silky yellow flower
with coarse leaves which sprawled over a bank of rock. The air ruffling
through the window smelled of the sea. Had Isabel the same crowd with her
this week-end, wondered William?
And he remembered the holidays they used to have, the four of them, with a
little farm girl, Rose, to look after the babies. Isabel wore a jersey and
her hair in a plait; she looked about fourteen. Lord! how his nose used to
peel! And the amount they ate, and the amount they slept in that immense
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