| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: "When we say military men, we do not mean civil, Monsieur le
Ministre."
"My dear fellow," said Montcornet to Soulanges, leading him into a
corner, "the Emperor spoke warmly in your praise this morning, and
your promotion to be field-marshal is a certainty."
"The Master does not love the Artillery."
"No, but he adores the nobility, and you are an aristocrat. The Master
said," added Montcornet, "that the men who had married in Paris during
the campaign were not therefore to be considered in disgrace. Well
then?"
The Comte de Soulanges looked as if he understood nothing of this
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey: fetch him. In that country, where every rider boasted of a fine
mount and was eager for a race, where thoroughbreds dotted the
wonderful grazing ranges, Venters rode a horse that was sad proof
of his misfortunes.
Then, with his back against a stone, Venters faced the east, and,
stick in hand and idle blade, he waited. The glorious sunlight
filled the valley with purple fire. Before him, to left, to
right, waving, rolling, sinking, rising, like low swells of a
purple sea, stretched the sage. Out of the grove of cottonwoods,
a green patch on the purple, gleamed the dull red of Jane
Withersteen's old stone house. And from there extended the wide
Riders of the Purple Sage |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: extreme caution.
He found his mother raving. Maggie had not returned home.
The parent continually wondered how her daughter could come to such
a pass. She had never considered Maggie as a pearl dropped
unstained into Rum Alley from Heaven, but she could not conceive
how it was possible for her daughter to fall so low as to bring
disgrace upon her family. She was terrific in denunciation of the
girl's wickedness.
The fact that the neighbors talked of it, maddened her. When
women came in, and in the course of their conversation casually
asked, "Where's Maggie dese days?" the mother shook her fuzzy head
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
