| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson: suffer not his style to flag below the level of the argument; pitch
the key of conversation, not with any thought of how men talk in
parlours, but with a single eye to the degree of passion he may be
called on to express; and allow neither himself in the narrative
nor any character in the course of the dialogue, to utter one
sentence that is not part and parcel of the business of the story
or the discussion of the problem involved. Let him not regret if
this shortens his book; it will be better so; for to add irrelevant
matter is not to lengthen but to bury. Let him not mind if he miss
a thousand qualities, so that he keeps unflaggingly in pursuit of
the one he has chosen. Let him not care particularly if he miss
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: "Women!" she said in high indignation, "and men! It isn't women
and men--it's him and me, George! Why don't you talk sense?
"Old passion's all very well, George, in its way, and I'm the
last person to be jealous. But this is old nonsense.... I'm not
going to let him show off what a silly old lobster he is to other
women.... I'll mark every scrap of his underclothes with red
letters, 'Ponderevo-Private'--every scrap.
"Going about making love indeed,--in abdominal belts!--at his
time of life!"
I cannot imagine what passed between her and my uncle. But I
have no doubt that for once her customary badinage was laid
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Iliad by Homer: give support to the ships' sides as they lay on the shore. Ajax
caught up one of them and struck Hector above the rim of his
shield close to his neck; the blow made him spin round like a top
and reel in all directions. As an oak falls headlong when
uprooted by the lightning flash of father Jove, and there is a
terrible smell of brimstone--no man can help being dismayed if he
is standing near it, for a thunderbolt is a very awful thing--
even so did Hector fall to earth and bite the dust. His spear
fell from his hand, but his shield and helmet were made fast
about his body, and his bronze armour rang about him.
The sons of the Achaeans came running with a loud cry towards
The Iliad |
