| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Malbone: An Oldport Romance by Thomas Wentworth Higginson: "No," said Malbone, "therefore this does not trouble me, but it
troubles you. I am content. My digestion is good. I can
always amuse myself. Why are you not satisfied?"
"Because you are not," said Harry. "You are dissatisfied with
men, and so you care chiefly to amuse yourself with women and
children."
"I dare say," said Malbone, carelessly. "They are usually less
ungraceful and talk better grammar."
"But American life does not mean grace nor grammar. We are all
living for the future. Rough work now, and the graces by and
by."
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from One Basket by Edna Ferber: Tessie, taking off her hat on her way upstairs, met this coolly.
"Yeh, I ran into her comin' back."
Upstairs, lying fully dressed on her hard little bed, she stared
up into the darkness, thinking, her hands limp at her sides. Oh,
well, what's the diff? You had to make the best of it.
Everybody makin' a fuss about the soldiers--feeding 'em, and
asking 'em to their houses, and sending 'em things, and giving
dances and picnics and parties so they wouldn't be lonesome.
Chuck had told her all about it. The other boys told the same.
They could just pick and choose their good times. Tessie's mind
groped about, sensing a certain injustice. How about the girls?
One Basket |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Cavalry General by Xenophon: various devices of mock ambuscades, sham relief parties, false
information. Conversely, his confidence will reach an overweening
pitch, if the idea gets abroad that his opponents have troubles of
their own and little leisure for offensive operations.
But over and beyond all that can be written on the subject--
inventiveness is a personal matter, beyond all formulas--the true
general must be able to take in, deceive, decoy, delude his adversary
at every turn, as the particular occasion demands. In fact, there is
no instrument of war more cunning than chicanery;[6] which is not
surprising when one reflects that even little boys, when playing, "How
many (marbles) have I got in my hand?"[7] are able to take one another
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