| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: of the clearing, which was distant a quarter of a mile from the fort. He kept
a keen eye on the opposite side of the river, as he had been directed. From
the upper end of the island, almost straight across from where he stood, the
river took a broad turn, which could not be observed from the fort windows.
The river was high from the recent rains and brush heaps and logs and debris
of all descriptions were floating down with the swift current. Rabbits and
other small animals, which had probably been surrounded on some island and
compelled to take to the brush or drown, crouched on floating logs and piles
of driftwood. Happening to glance down the road, Clarke saw a horse galloping
in his direction At first he thought it was a messenger for himself, but as it
neared him he saw that the horse was an Indian pony and the rider a young
Betty Zane |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: I was amazed. Then I had to look at the river mighty quick,
because there was a snag in the fairway. Sticks, little sticks,
were flying about--thick: they were whizzing before my nose,
dropping below me, striking behind me against my pilot-house.
All this time the river, the shore, the woods, were very quiet--
perfectly quiet. I could only hear the heavy splashing
thump of the stern-wheel and the patter of these things.
We cleared the snag clumsily. Arrows, by Jove!
We were being shot at! I stepped in quickly to close
the shutter on the landside. That fool-helmsman, his hands
on the spokes, was lifting his knees high, stamping his feet,
Heart of Darkness |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Profits of Religion by Upton Sinclair: say when we see the formulas of heroic self-deception made use of
by unheroic self-indulgence? What are we to say when we see
asceticism preached to the poor by fat and comfortable retainers
of the rich? What are we to say when we see idealism become
hypocrisy, and the moral and spiritual heritage of mankind
twisted to the knavish purposes of class-cruelty and greed? What
I say is--Bootstrap-lifting!
It is the fate of many abstract words to be used in two senses,
one good and the other bad. Morality means the will to
righteousness, or it means Anthony Comstock; democracy means the
rule of the people, or it means Tammany Hall. And so it is with
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