| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: (Duc d'Otrante) as governor to the Illyrian provinces,--an appointment
which was in fact an exile.
The singular genius of this man, Fouche, which had the power of
inspiring Napoleon with a sort of fear, did not reveal itself all at
once. This obscure conventional, one of the most extraordinary men of
our time, and the most misjudged, was moulded, as it were, by the
whirlwind of events. He raised himself under the Directory to the
height from which men of genius could see the future and judge the
past, and then, like certain commonplace actors who suddenly become
admirable through the light of some vivid perception, he gave proofs
of his dexterity during the rapid revolution of the 18th Brumaire.
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: The torches were now almost consumed, and as they were obliged to return
by the passage to reach the summit of the plateau, it was decided to put
off the work necessary for the arrangement of their new dwelling till the
next day.
Before departing, Cyrus Harding leaned once more over the dark well,
which descended perpendicularly to the level of the sea. He listened
attentively. No noise was heard, not even that of the water, which the
undulations of the surge must sometimes agitate in its depths. A flaming
branch was again thrown in. The sides of the well were lighted up for an
instant, but as at the first time, nothing suspicious was seen.
If some marine monster had been surprised unawares by the retreat of the
The Mysterious Island |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Emma McChesney & Co. by Edna Ferber: Emma McChesney."
T. A. stood up and put an arm about his wife's shoulders.
"Lean on me, grandma," he said.
"Fiend!" retorted Emma, and reread the telegram happily. She
folded it then, with a pensive sigh, "I hope she'll look like
Grace. But with Jock's eyes. They were wasted in a man. At any
rate, she ought to be a raving, tearing beauty with that father
and mother."
"What about her grandmother, when it comes to looks! Yes, and
think of the brain she'll have," Buck reminded her excitedly.
"Great Scott! With a grandmother who has made the T. A. Buck
Emma McChesney & Co. |
