| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Call of the Wild by Jack London: they were close to Thornton; after that he tolerated them in a
passive sort of way, accepting favors from them as though he
favored them by accepting. They were of the same large type as
Thornton, living close to the earth, thinking simply and seeing
clearly; and ere they swung the raft into the big eddy by the saw-
mill at Dawson, they understood Buck and his ways, and did not
insist upon an intimacy such as obtained with Skeet and Nig.
For Thornton, however, his love seemed to grow and grow. He,
alone among men, could put a pack upon Buck's back in the summer
travelling. Nothing was too great for Buck to do, when Thornton
commanded. One day (they had grub-staked themselves from the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: I seed myself looking up at myself, and I was frightened
and jumped back like anything."
..."If they had only shown signs of meeting my advances
halfway how well it might have been done! But there is
no chance. Shut out! She must have set him against me.
Can there be beautiful bodies without hearts inside? I
think so. I would not have done it against a neighbour's
cat on such a fiery day as this!"
"What is it you say?"
"Never again--never! Not even if they send for me!"
"You must be a very curious woman to talk like that."
Return of the Native |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: hillsides doted with browsing cattle, droves of sturdy-limbed horses, and pens
of fat, grunting pigs--all of which attested to the growing prosperity of the
Village of Peace.
On the way back to the cabin, while the others listened to and questioned Mr.
Zeisberger, Jim was silent and thoughtful, for his thoughts reverted to his
brother.
Later, as he walked with Nell by the golden-fringed stream, he spoke of Joe.
"Joe wanted so much to hunt with Wetzel. He will come back; surely he will
return to us when he has satisfied his wild craving for adventure. Do you not
think so?"
There was an eagerness that was almost pleading in Jim's voice. What he so
The Spirit of the Border |
