| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: cookin'. You're slicin' it too thick. See--thar! Now salt good, an' keep outen
the flame; on the red coals is best."
With a sharpened stick Jeff held the thin slices over the fire for a few
moments. Then he laid them aside on some clean white-oak chips Bill's axe had
provided. The simple meal of meat, bread, and afterward a drink of the cold
spring water, was keenly relished by the hungry voyagers. When it had been
eaten, Jeff threw a log on the fire and remarked:
"Seein' as how we won't be in redskin territory fer awhile yit, we kin hev a
fire. I'll allow ye'll all be chilly and damp from river-mist afore long, so
toast yerselves good."
"How far have we come to-day?" inquired Mr. Wells, his mind always intent on
The Spirit of the Border |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: had given her but few glimpses of the tragic world which
underlies society, so regarding it in a business light, she set
about supplying her deficiencies with characteristic energy.
Eager to find material for stories, and bent on making them
original in plot, if not masterly in execution, she searched
newspapers for accidents, incidents, and crimes. She excited
the suspicions of public librarians by asking for works on
poisons. She studied faces in the street, and characters,
good, bad, and indifferent, all about her. She delved in
the dust of ancient times for facts or fictions so old that
they were as good as new, and introduced herself to folly, sin,
Little Women |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: spirit, he declared his intention to select a fat bird and send
him on board for us not later than next day.
I had heard of these largesses before. He conferred a goose as
if it were a sort of court decoration given only to the tried
friends of the house. I had expected more pomp in the ceremony.
The gift had surely its special quality, multiple and rare. From
the only flock on the East Coast! He did not make half enough of
it. That man did not understand his opportunities. However, I
thanked him at some length.
"You see," he interrupted, abruptly, in a very peculiar tone,
"the worst of this country is that one is not able to realize . .
A Personal Record |
