| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: served with tea. She spoke no English and but little Chinese, and
the embarrassment of our effort to converse was only relieved by
the ringing of the bell for school. The pupils, consisting of the
secondary wives and daughters of the Prince, his son's wife, and
the wives and daughters of his dead brother who make their home
with him, entered in an orderly way and took their seats. When
the teacher came into the room the ladies all arose and remained
standing until she took her place before her desk and made a low
bow to which they all responded in unison. This is the custom in
all of the schools I have visited. Even where the superintendent
is Chinese, the pupils stand and make a low Japanese bow at the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: then know what a loss it was." She stopped for a moment,
and then added, with great firmness, "I have no sister,
you know--and though Henry--though my brothers are
very affectionate, and Henry is a great deal here,
which I am most thankful for, it is impossible for me
not to be often solitary."
"To be sure you must miss him very much."
"A mother would have been always present. A mother
would have been a constant friend; her influence would
have been beyond all other."
"Was she a very charming woman? Was she handsome?
Northanger Abbey |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: villain told me over his champagne. He said--'I don't know if I hurt
her, but she turned round, as if enraged, and with her sharp teeth
caught hold of my leg--gently, I daresay; but I, thinking she would
devour me, plunged my dagger into her throat. She rolled over, giving
a cry that froze my heart; and I saw her dying, still looking at me
without anger. I would have given all the world--my cross even, which
I had not got then--to have brought her to life again. It was as
though I had murdered a real person; and the soldiers who had seen my
flag, and were come to my assistance, found me in tears.'
" 'Well sir,' he said, after a moment of silence, 'since then I have
been in war in Germany, in Spain, in Russia, in France; I've certainly
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