| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: to make severity necessary. She looks perfectly timid, dejected, and
penitent. She is very pretty, though not so handsome as her mother, nor at
all like her. Her complexion is delicate, but neither so fair nor so
blooming as Lady Susan's, and she has quite the Vernon cast of countenance,
the oval face and mild dark eyes, and there is peculiar sweetness in her
look when she speaks either to her uncle or me, for as we behave kindly to
her we have of course engaged her gratitude.
Her mother has insinuated that her temper is intractable, but I never
saw a face less indicative of any evil disposition than hers; and from what
I can see of the behaviour of each to the other, the invariable severity of
Lady Susan and the silent dejection of Frederica, I am led to believe as
Lady Susan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: scandal magazines of Broadway. Mrs. Wilson was first concerned with
the dog. A reluctant elevator-boy went for a box full of straw and
some milk, to which he added on his own initiative a tin of large,
hard dog-biscuits--one of which decomposed apathetically in the saucer
of milk all afternoon. Meanwhile Tom brought out a bottle of whiskey
from a locked bureau door.
I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that
afternoon; so everything that happened has a dim, hazy cast over it,
although until after eight o'clock the apartment was full of cheerful
sun. Sitting on Tom's lap Mrs. Wilson called up several people on the
telephone; then there were no cigarettes, and I went out to buy some at
The Great Gatsby |
