| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: Cuzak began at once to talk about his holiday--from politeness
he spoke in English.
`Mama, I wish you had see the lady dance on the slack-wire
in the street at night. They throw a bright light on her and
she float through the air something beautiful, like a bird!
They have a dancing bear, like in the old country, and two-three
merry-go-around, and people in balloons, and what you call
the big wheel, Rudolph?'
`A Ferris wheel,' Rudolph entered the conversation in a deep baritone voice.
He was six foot two, and had a chest like a young blacksmith.
`We went to the big dance in the hall behind the saloon last night,
 My Antonia |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: "The outbreak," I returned, "will make a tremendous occasion
of Thursday night;" and everyone so agreed with me that,
in the light of it, we lost all attention for everything else.
The last story, however incomplete and like the mere opening
of a serial, had been told; we handshook and "candlestuck,"
as somebody said, and went to bed.
I knew the next day that a letter containing the key had,
by the first post, gone off to his London apartments;
but in spite of--or perhaps just on account of--the eventual
diffusion of this knowledge we quite let him alone till
after dinner, till such an hour of the evening, in fact,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: declared purpose of the Union that it WILL Constitutionally
defend and maintain itself.
In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence; and there
shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority.
The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess
the property and places belonging to the government, and to collect
the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects,
there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people
anywhere. Where hostility to the United States, in any interior locality,
shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens
from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force
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