| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac: to him that La Zambinella was almost a courtesan, and that he could
not hope to enjoy at one and the same time the pure delights which
would make a maiden's love so sweet, and the passionate transports
with which one must purchase the perilous favors of an actress. He
reflected and resigned himself to his fate. The supper was served.
Sarrasine and La Zambinella seated themselves side by side without
ceremony. During the first half of the feast the artists exercised
some restraint, and the sculptor was able to converse with the singer.
He found that she was very bright and quick-witted; but she was
amazingly ignorant and seemed weak and superstitious. The delicacy of
her organs was reproduced in her understanding. When Vitagliani opened
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Lesson of the Master by Henry James: that he accepted the inglorious hour for what it was worth. Paul
Overt shared it with him and with his companions for the next
twenty minutes; the latter looked at him and he looked at them
without knowing much who they were, while the talk went on without
much telling him even what it meant. It seemed indeed to mean
nothing in particular; it wandered, with casual pointless pauses
and short terrestrial flights, amid names of persons and places -
names which, for our friend, had no great power of evocation. It
was all sociable and slow, as was right and natural of a warm
Sunday morning.
His first attention was given to the question, privately
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: is now, I'm sure she will be much happier as Empress of
the Winkies."
"Perhaps," said Captain Fyter, somewhat stiffly, "she
will be still more happy to become the bride of a Tin
Soldier."
"She shall choose between us, as we have agreed," the
Tin Woodman promised; "but how shall we get to the poor
girl?"
Polychrome, although dancing lightly back and forth,
had listened to every word of the conversation. Now she
came forward and sat herself down just in front of the
 The Tin Woodman of Oz |