| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith: HARDCASTLE. I was never so surprised in my life! He has quite
confounded all my faculties!
MISS HARDCASTLE. I never saw anything like it: and a man of the world
too!
HARDCASTLE. Ay, he learned it all abroad--what a fool was I, to think
a young man could learn modesty by travelling. He might as soon learn
wit at a masquerade.
MISS HARDCASTLE. It seems all natural to him.
HARDCASTLE. A good deal assisted by bad company and a French
dancing-master.
MISS HARDCASTLE. Sure you mistake, papa! A French dancing-master
 She Stoops to Conquer |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: my men feathered their oars instinctively, without an order, and
the boat lost her way.
He was steadying himself on my shoulder with a strong grip, while
his other arm, flung up rigidly, pointed a denunciatory finger at
the immense tranquillity of the ocean. After his first
exclamation, which stopped the swing of our oars, he made no sound,
but his whole attitude seemed to cry out an indignant "Behold!" . .
. I could not imagine what vision of evil had come to him. I was
startled, and the amazing energy of his immobilized gesture made my
heart beat faster with the anticipation of something monstrous and
unsuspected. The stillness around us became crushing.
 The Mirror of the Sea |