| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: with Mr. Rochester in the shadowy orchard; but I could not find a
reason to allege for leaving him. I followed with lagging step, and
thoughts busily bent on discovering a means of extrication; but he
himself looked so composed and so grave also, I became ashamed of
feeling any confusion: the evil--if evil existent or prospective
there was--seemed to lie with me only; his mind was unconscious and
quiet.
"Jane," he recommenced, as we entered the laurel walk, and slowly
strayed down in the direction of the sunk fence and the horse-
chestnut, "Thornfield is a pleasant place in summer, is it not?"
"Yes, sir."
Jane Eyre |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Critias by Plato: brother and sister deities, in mind and art united, obtained as their lot
the land of Attica, a land suited to the growth of virtue and wisdom; and
there they settled a brave race of children of the soil, and taught them
how to order the state. Some of their names, such as Cecrops, Erechtheus,
Erichthonius, and Erysichthon, were preserved and adopted in later times,
but the memory of their deeds has passed away; for there have since been
many deluges, and the remnant who survived in the mountains were ignorant
of the art of writing, and during many generations were wholly devoted to
acquiring the means of life...And the armed image of the goddess which was
dedicated by the ancient Athenians is an evidence to other ages that men
and women had in those days, as they ought always to have, common virtues
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Falk by Joseph Conrad: both his hands down his face--and it had its mean-
ing now, with that slight shudder of the frame and
the passionate anguish of these hands uncovering
a hungry immovable face, the wide pupils of the
intent, silent, fascinating eyes.
It was an iron steamer of a most respectable ori-
gin. The burgomaster of Falk's native town had
built her. She was the first steamer ever launched
there. The burgomaster's daughter had christened
her. Country people drove in carts from miles
around to see her. He told me all this. He got the
Falk |
