| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber: indistinguishable to me. Day and night, for many months,
it had been in my mind. Of late some instinct had
prompted me to finish it. I had worked at it far into
the night, until I marveled that the ancient occupants of
the surrounding rooms did not enter a combined protest
against the clack-clacking of my typewriter keys. And
now that it was gone I wondered, dully, if I could feel
Von Gerhard's departure more keenly.
No one knew of the existence of the book except
Norah, Von Gerhard, Blackie and me. Blackie had a way of
inquiring after its progress in hushed tones of mock awe.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Crito by Plato: supposed to love (compare Phaedr.). For you never went out of the city
either to see the games, except once when you went to the Isthmus, or to
any other place unless when you were on military service; nor did you
travel as other men do. Nor had you any curiosity to know other states or
their laws: your affections did not go beyond us and our state; we were
your especial favourites, and you acquiesced in our government of you; and
here in this city you begat your children, which is a proof of your
satisfaction. Moreover, you might in the course of the trial, if you had
liked, have fixed the penalty at banishment; the state which refuses to let
you go now would have let you go then. But you pretended that you
preferred death to exile (compare Apol.), and that you were not unwilling
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: hatchway, would yell out, 'Hurrah for Bankok!' and the
rest laughed. But generally we were taciturn and seri-
ous--and thirsty. Oh! how thirsty! And we had to be
careful with the water. Strict allowance. The ship
smoked, the sun blazed. . . . Pass the bottle.
"We tried everything. We even made an attempt to
dig down to the fire. No good, of course. No man
could remain more than a minute below. Mahon, who
went first, fainted there, and the man who went to fetch
him out did likewise. We lugged them out on deck.
Then I leaped down to show how easily it could be done.
Youth |
