| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: interesting to study. A perfect type in a way. Perfect!"
He spoke scientifically in his secret fear. And Mrs Verloc,
hearing these words of commendation vouchsafed to her beloved dead,
swayed forward with a flicker of light in her sombre eyes, like a
ray of sunshine heralding a tempest of rain.
"He was that indeed," she whispered softly, with quivering lips.
"You took a lot of notice of him, Tom. I loved you for it."
"It's almost incredible the resemblance there was between you two,"
pursued Ossipon, giving a voice to his abiding dread, and trying to
conceal his nervous, sickening impatience for the train to start.
"Yes; he resembled you."
The Secret Agent |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne: one degree (1 4/5° Fahr.) for every hundred feet. But certain local
conditions may modify this rate. Thus at Yakoutsk in Siberia the
increase of a degree is ascertained to be reached every 36 feet. This
difference depends upon the heat-conducting power of the rocks.
Moreover, in the neighbourhood of an extinct volcano, through gneiss,
it has been observed that the increase of a degree is only attained
at every 125 feet. Let us therefore assume this last hypothesis as
the most suitable to our situation, and calculate."
"Well, do calculate, my boy."
"Nothing is easier," said I, putting down figures in my note book.
"Nine times a hundred and twenty-five feet gives a depth of eleven
Journey to the Center of the Earth |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: far recovered that he had regained his appetite and could walk abroad,
and talked of getting to work again, Coralie broke down; a secret
trouble was weighing upon her. Berenice always believed that she had
promised to go back to Camusot to save Lucien.
Another mortification followed. Coralie was obliged to see her part
given to Florine. Nathan had threatened the Gymnase with war if the
management refused to give the vacant place to Coralie's rival.
Coralie had persisted till she could play no longer, knowing that
Florine was waiting to step into her place. She had overtasked her
strength. The Gymnase had advanced sums during Lucien's illness, she
had no money to draw; Lucien, eager to work though he was, was not yet
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