| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie: it had to be done, and she must accomplish the task
single-handed. What had occasioned this precipitate departure?
Did Mrs. Vandemeyer suspect her?
Speculations were idle. Tuppence pressed the bell firmly. She
might learn something from the cook.
Nothing happened and, after waiting some minutes, Tuppence
pressed the bell again, keeping her finger on the button for some
little while. At last she heard footsteps inside, and a moment
later Mrs. Vandemeyer herself opened the door. She lifted her
eyebrows at the sight of the girl.
"You?"
Secret Adversary |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: this, I repeat, is the playful and sprightly yet already somewhat
decadent side of a strong race. It smacks rather of the Parc-aux-Cerfs
than of the Hotel de Rambouillet. It is a race of the strong rather
than of the sweet; I incline to lay a little debauchery to its charge,
and more than I should wish in brilliant and generous natures; it is
gallantry after the fashion of the Marechal de Richelieu, high spirits
and frolic carried rather too far; perhaps we may see in it the
/outrances/ of another age, the Eighteenth Century pushed to extremes;
it harks back to the Musketeers; it is an exploit stolen from
Champcenetz; nay, such light-hearted inconstancy takes us back to the
festooned and ornate period of the old court of the Valois. In an age
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy: yesterday.
Recalling the evening he had spent with the Korchagins, a wealthy
and aristocratic family, whose daughter every one expected he
would marry, he sighed, and, throwing away the end of his
cigarette, was going to take another out of the silver case; but,
changing his mind, he resolutely raised his solid frame, and,
putting down his smooth, white legs, stepped into his slippers,
threw his silk dressing gown over his broad shoulders, and passed
into his dressing-room, walking heavily and quickly. There he
carefully cleaned his teeth, many of which were filled, with
tooth powder, and rinsed his mouth with scented elixir. After
Resurrection |
