| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: want to show you the worst enemies of the trees. Here's a big white oak, a
hundred and fifty years old. It's almost dead. See the little holes bored
in the bark. They were made by a beetle. Look!"
I swung my hatchet and split off a section of bark. Everywhere in the bark
and round the tree ran little dust-filled grooves. I pried out a number of
tiny brown beetles, somewhat the shape of a pinching-bug, only very much
smaller.
"There! You'd hardly think that that great tree was killed by a lot of
little bugs, would you? They girdle the trees and prevent the sap from
flowing."
I found an old chestnut which contained nests of the deadly white moths,
The Young Forester |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: maintain that he is exempt from all the penalties of declining
years. The man who can love a girl in a book may be old, but never
aged.
So we sailed, lovers all three, among the Western Isles, and
whatever ship it was that carried us, her figurehead was always the
Princess Sheila. Along the ruffled blue waters of the sounds and
lochs that wind among the roots of unpronounceable mountains, and
past the dark hills of Skye, and through the unnumbered flocks of
craggy islets where the sea-birds nest, the spell of the sweet
Highland maid drew us, and we were pilgrims to the Ultima Thule
where she lived and reigned.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Octopus by Frank Norris: declaring that she was nearly dead and felt more like going to
bed than dancing. The two girl cousins, in dresses of dotted
Swiss over blue sateen, were doing their utmost to pacify her.
She could be heard protesting from moment to moment. One
distinguished the phrases "straight to my bed," "back nearly
broken in two," "never wanted to come in the first place." The
druggist, observing Cutter take a pair of gloves from Mrs.
Cutter's reticule, drew his hands from his pockets.
But abruptly there was an interruption. In the musicians' corner
a scuffle broke out. A chair was overturned. There was a noise
of imprecations mingled with shouts of derision. Skeezicks, the
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