| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: world had seemed too far away and too uncertain then; he could
not have waited for it; his need had been too sharp. If he had
to choose over again, he would do the same thing tomorrow. He
looked affectionately about the dining room, now gilded with a
soft mist. Ah, it had paid indeed!
Paul was awakened next morning by a painful throbbing in his
head and feet. He had thrown himself across the bed without
undressing, and had slept with his shoes on. His limbs and hands
were lead heavy, and his tongue and throat were parched and
burnt. There came upon him one of those fateful attacks of
clearheadedness that never occurred except when he was physically
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Talisman by Walter Scott: responsible for his own actions."
"Methinks our monks have adopted chiefly the latter character,"
said Richard. "But to the matter. In what can I pleasure you,
my learned physician?"
"Great King," said El Hakim, making his profound Oriental
obeisance, "let thy servant speak one word, and yet live. I
would remind thee that thou owest--not to me, their humble
instrument--but to the Intelligences, whose benefits I dispense
to mortals, a life--"
"And I warrant me thou wouldst have another in requital, ha?"
interrupted the King.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson: men can be beat from a position, but it takes six hours to do it; a
high and hard adventure, worth attempting. With both you can pass
days in an enchanted country of the mind, with people, scenery and
manners of its own; live a life apart, more arduous, active and
glowing than any real existence; and come forth again when the talk
is over, as out of a theatre or a dream, to find the east wind
still blowing and the chimney-pots of the old battered city still
around you. Jack has the far finer mind, Burly the far more
honest; Jack gives us the animated poetry, Burly the romantic
prose, of similar themes; the one glances high like a meteor and
makes a light in darkness; the other, with many changing hues of
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