| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic: banking-account shone upon her. Where the soft woodland
light played in among the strands of her disordered hair,
he saw the veritable gleam of gold. A mysterious new
suggestion of power blended itself with the beauty of
her face, was exhaled in the faint perfume of her garments.
He maintained a timorous hold upon the ribbon, wondering at
his hardihood in touching it, or being near her at all.
What surprises me," he heard himself saying, "is that
you are contented to stay in Octavius. I should think
that you would travel--go abroad--see the beautiful
things of the world, surround yourself with the luxuries
The Damnation of Theron Ware |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: topgallant sails would have to come off the ship.
Next day, but this time in the first dog watch, Jacques entered
my cabin. He had a thick woollen muffler round his throat, and
the MS. was in his hand. He tendered it to me with a steady
look, but without a word. I took it in silence. He sat down on
the couch and still said nothing. I opened and shut a drawer
under my desk, on which a filled-up log-slate lay wide open in
its wooden frame waiting to be copied neatly into the sort of
book I was accustomed to write with care, the ship's log-book. I
turned my back squarely on the desk. And even then Jacques never
offered a word. "Well, what do you say?" I asked at last. "Is
A Personal Record |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: perpetual recurrence of questions, why can you not do this, or
that, or the third thing? and, when you have proved to her that
her expedients are totally ineffectual, you have just to begin
the whole round again. Now, do you tell her, dear Lady Bothwell,
that YOU are satisfied. She is, you must confess, one of those
persons with whom authority goes farther than reasoning. Do but
repose a little confidence in me, and you shall see how amply I
will repay it."
Lady Bothwell shook her head, as one but half satisfied. "How
difficult it is to extend confidence, when the basis on which it
ought to rest has been so much shaken! But I will do my best to
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