| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity--
an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven, but
which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the grey wall,
and the silent tarn--a pestilent and mystic vapour, dull,
sluggish, faintly discernible, and leaden-hued.
Shaking off from my spirit what must have been a dream,
I scanned more narrowly the real aspect of the building. Its
principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity.
The discoloration of ages had been great. Minute fungi
overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web-work
from the eaves. Yet all this was apart from any extraordinary
The Fall of the House of Usher |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Case of the Registered Letter by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: then met again in Germany?"
"No, he never spoke of any such to me. He told me that he made few
friends. He did not seek them for he was afraid that they might
find out what had happened and turn from him. He was morbidly
sensitive and could not bear the disappointment"
"Why did he return to Germany?"
"He was lonely and wanted to come home again. He had made money
in America - John was very clever and highly educated - but his
heart longed for his own tongue and his own people."
Muller took a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Do you know
this handwriting?"
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: "What has happened?" asked Madame de Camps.
"My husband is losing his head," replied the countess. "I don't see a
trace of his old moral sense left in him. Far from understanding that
he is, as Monsieur de Camps said just now, the accomplice of the
shameful attack which is going on, and that he has not, like those who
started it, the excuse of ignorance, he actually seems to take delight
in this wickedness. Just now he brought me that vile paper
triumphantly, and I could scarcely prevent his being very angry with
me for not agreeing with his opinion that it was infinitely witty and
amusing."
"That letter of Monsieur Gaston's was a terrible shock to him," said
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