| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: was grieved for him; I was grieved for the overthrow of all our
air-built castles: but, with the elasticity of youth, I soon
recovered the shook.
Though riches had charms, poverty had no terrors for an
inexperienced girl like me. Indeed, to say the truth, there was
something exhilarating in the idea of being driven to straits, and
thrown upon our own resources. I only wished papa, mamma, and Mary
were all of the same mind as myself; and then, instead of lamenting
past calamities we might all cheerfully set to work to remedy them;
and the greater the difficulties, the harder our present
privations, the greater should be our cheerfulness to endure the
 Agnes Grey |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Rescue by Joseph Conrad: as no rover in those seas had ever attempted.
That Tengga was much more ready to negotiate than to fight, the
old adventurer had not the slightest doubt. How Lingard would
deal with him was not a concern of Jorgenson's. That would be
easy enough. Nothing prevented Lingard from going to see Tengga
and talking to him with authority. All that ambitious person
really wanted was to have a share in Lingard's wealth, in
Lingard's power, in Lingard's friendship. A year before Tengga
had once insinuated to Jorgenson, "In what way am I less worthy
of being a friend than Belarab?"
It was a distinct overture, a disclosure of the man's innermost
 The Rescue |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum: armies to march through it with ease. The Nomes were used to making
tunnels, as all the kingdom in which they lived was under ground; so
they made rapid progress.
While this work was going on General Guph started out alone to visit
the Chief of the Whimsies.
These Whimsies were curious people who lived in a retired country of
their own. They had large, strong bodies, but heads so small that
they were no bigger than door-knobs. Of course, such tiny heads could
not contain any great amount of brains, and the Whimsies were so
ashamed of their personal appearance and lack of commonsense that
they wore big heads made of pasteboard, which they fastened over their
 The Emerald City of Oz |