| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Adventure by Jack London: wasn't necessary."
"I am afraid I don't understand," he said shortly, turning away.
"We will talk it over later on."
"Look how I get on with the boys," she said, while he paused in the
doorway, stiffly polite, to listen. "There's those two sick boys I
am nursing. They will do anything for me when they get well, and I
won't have to keep them in fear of their life all the time. It is
not necessary, I tell you, all this harshness and brutality. What
if they are cannibals? They are human beings, just like you and
me, and they are amenable to reason. That is what distinguishes
all of us from the lower animals."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: and hammering. Little by little the scene grew plain: towering,
black buildings here and there, long rows of shops and sheds,
little railways branching everywhere, bare gray cinders underfoot
and oceans of billowing black smoke above. On one side of the
grounds ran a railroad with a dozen tracks, and on the other side
lay the lake, where steamers came to load.
Jurgis had time enough to stare and speculate, for it was two
hours before he was summoned. He went into the office building,
where a company timekeeper interviewed him. The superintendent
was busy, he said, but he (the timekeeper) would try to find
Jurgis a job. He had never worked in a steel mill before? But
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: When Wilbur was a year and
seven months old - in September of 1914 - his size and accomplishments
were almost alarming. He had grown as large as a child of four,
and was a fluent and incredibly intelligent talker. He ran freely
about the fields and hills, and accompanied his mother on all
her wanderings. At home he would pore dilligently over the queer
pictures and charts in his grandfather's books, while Old Whateley
would instruct and catechize him through long, hushed afternoons.
By this time the restoration of the house was finished, and those
who watched it wondered why one of the upper windows had been
made into a solid plank door. It was a window in the rear of the
The Dunwich Horror |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Purse by Honore de Balzac: appendages were there like a petition without a recommendation.
This old gentleman's coat was of dark blue cloth, and the
buttonhole had blossomed into many colored ribbons. He, no doubt,
always carried his hat in his hand--a three cornered cocked hat,
with a gold cord--for the snowy wings of his powdered hair showed
not a trace of its pressure. He might have been taken for not
more than fifty years of age, and seemed to enjoy robust health.
While wearing the frank and loyal expression of the old emigres,
his countenance also hinted at the easy habits of a libertine, at
the light and reckless passions of the Musketeers formerly so
famous in the annals of gallantry. His gestures, his attitude,
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