| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: above, or some other, there is no excuse to-day. These books have laid
the foundation from which has sprung the popular prejudice against
England. It has descended from father to son. It has been further
solidified by many tales for boys and girls, written by men and women
who acquired their inaccurate knowledge at our schools. And it plays
straight into the hands of our enemies
Chapter IX: Concerning a Complex
All of these books, history and fiction, drop into the American mind
during its early springtime the seed of antagonism, establish in fact an
anti-English "complex." It is as pretty a case of complex on the
wholesale as could well be found by either historian or psychologist. It
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber: sitting with his feet on the desk reading the Sheffield,
Illinois, Gazette.' You see, the thing he thinks I can do
is to give them a picture of New York as they used to see
it, before they got color blind. A column or so a day,
about anything that hits me. How does that strike you as a
job for a naturalist?"
"It's a job for a human naturalist. I think you'll cover
it."
If you know the dunes, which you probably don't, you know
why they did not get off at Millers, with the crowd, but
rode on until they were free of the Sunday picnickers.
 Fanny Herself |