| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: Germany was for the time the abhorred of nations. Germans in
America publicly disowned the country of their birth. In Honolulu,
so near the scene of action, German and American young men fell to
blows in the street. In the same city, from no traceable source,
and upon no possible authority, there arose a rumour of tragic news
to arrive by the next occasion, that the NIPSIC had opened fire on
the ADLER, and the ADLER had sunk her on the first reply.
Punctually on the day appointed, the news came; and the two
nations, instead of being plunged into war, could only mingle tears
over the loss of heroes.
By the second week in March three American ships were in Apia bay,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: "Oh."
That was the whole of his reply. It made me laugh at myself, for I should
have known better. I had often been in England and could have told
anybody that you mustn't too abruptly or obviously refer to what the
other fellow does, still less to what you do yourself. "It isn't done."
It's a sort of indecent exposure. It's one of the invasions of the right
to privacy.
In America, not everywhere but in many places, a man upon entering a club
and seeing a friend across the room, will not hesitate to call out to
him, "Hullo, Jack!" or "Hullo, George!" or whatever. In England "it
isn't done." The greeting would be conveyed by a short nod or a glance.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: And he uttered a summoning shout and called on the clan to rise.
Over against him at once, in the spotted shade of the trees,
Owlish and blinking creatures scrambled to hands and knees;
On the grades of the sacred terrace, the driveller woke to fear,
And the hand of the ham-drooped warrior brandished a wavering spear.
And Rua folded his arms, and scorn discovered his teeth;
Above the war-crowd gibbered, and Rua stood smiling beneath.
Thick, like leaves in the autumn, faint, like April sleet,
Missiles from tremulous hands quivered around his feet;
And Taheia leaped from her place; and the priest, the ruby-eyed,
Ran to the front of the terrace, and brandished his arms, and cried:
Ballads |
