| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Emma by Jane Austen: `So very kind and obliging!--But he always had been such a very
kind neighbour!' And then fly off, through half a sentence,
to her mother's old petticoat. `Not that it was such a very old
petticoat either--for still it would last a great while--and, indeed,
she must thankfully say that their petticoats were all very strong.'"
"For shame, Emma! Do not mimic her. You divert me against
my conscience. And, upon my word, I do not think Mr. Knightley would
be much disturbed by Miss Bates. Little things do not irritate him.
She might talk on; and if he wanted to say any thing himself, he would
only talk louder, and drown her voice. But the question is not,
whether it would be a bad connexion for him, but whether he wishes it;
Emma |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: Know, then, innocent eastern friend, that in benighted regions
of the west, where the mud is of unfathomable and sublime depth,
roads are made of round rough logs, arranged transversely side
by side, and coated over in their pristine freshness with earth,
turf, and whatsoever may come to hand, and then the rejoicing
native calleth it a road, and straightway essayeth to ride thereupon.
In process of time, the rains wash off all the turf and grass
aforesaid, move the logs hither and thither, in picturesque positions,
up, down and crosswise, with divers chasms and ruts of black mud
intervening.
Over such a road as this our senator went stumbling along,
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: filial reproachfulness.
"How could I? I don't go about the world offering my daughter to people--
especially to indifferent people."
"At Baden you did n't think I was indifferent. You were afraid
of my not being indifferent enough."
Mrs. Vivian colored.
"Ah, at Baden I was a little too anxious!"
"Too anxious I should n't speak to your daughter!" said Bernard, laughing.
"At Baden," Mrs. Vivian went on, "I had views. But I have n't any now--
I have given them up."
"That makes your acceptance of me very flattering!" Bernard exclaimed,
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