| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Whirligigs by O. Henry: "Donahue was right," said the young man, frankly;
"I was brought up on the Bowery. I have been news-
boy, teamster, pugilist, member of an organized band
of 'toughs,' bartender, and a 'sport' in various mean-
ings of the word. The experience certainly warrants the
supposition that I have at least a passing acquaintance
with a few phases of Bowery life. I will be pleased to
place whatever knowledge and experience I have at the
service of my friend Donahue's friends."
Rivington seemed ill at ease.
"I say," he said -- somewhat entreatingly, "I thought --
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: superiority. I have disconcerted him already by my calm reserve, and it
shall be my endeavour to humble the pride of these self important De
Courcys still lower, to convince Mrs. Vernon that her sisterly cautions
have been bestowed in vain, and to persuade Reginald that she has
scandalously belied me. This project will serve at least to amuse me, and
prevent my feeling so acutely this dreadful separation from you and all
whom I love.
Yours ever,
S. VERNON.
VIII
MRS. VERNON TO LADY DE COURCY
Lady Susan |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: case. Toil and isolation had sobered him, and he grew more and
more like the clods among which he laboured. It was as though some
red-hot instrument had touched for a moment those delicate
fibers of the brain which respond to acute pain or pleasure, in
which lies the power of exquisite sensation, and had seared them
quite away. It is a painful thing to watch the light die out of
the eyes of those Norsemen, leaving an expression of impenetrable
sadness, quite passive, quite hopeless, a shadow that is never
lifted. With some this change comes almost at once, in the first
bitterness of homesickness, with others it comes more slowly,
according to the time it takes each man's heart to die.
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
