| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: old maid as the devil was supposed in the middle ages to possess men,
and in a way to make any awakening impossible for her. For the last
three days la Peyrade had been measuring himself for the task; he had
carefully reconnoitred the ground to see all difficulty. Flattery,
that almost infallible means in able hands, would certainly miscarry
with a woman who for years had known she had no beauty. But a man of
strong will finds nothing impregnable; the Lamarques could never have
failed to take Capri. Therefore, nothing must be omitted from the
memorable scene which was now to take place; all things about it had
their own importance,--inflections of the voice, pauses, glances,
lowered eyes.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: eye, that opened suddenly, and softly in the evening. Now--
James looked at the Lighthouse. He could see the white-washed rocks;
the tower, stark and straight; he could see that it was barred with
black and white; he could see windows in it; he could even see washing
spread on the rocks to dry. So that was the Lighthouse, was it?
No, the other was also the Lighthouse. For nothing was simply one
thing. The other Lighthouse was true too. It was sometimes hardly to
be seen across the bay. In the evening one looked up and saw the eye
opening and shutting and the light seemed to reach them in that airy
sunny garden where they sat.
But he pulled himself up. Whenever he said "they" or "a person," and
To the Lighthouse |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Maid Marian by Thomas Love Peacock: the edge of her weapon painted his complexion with streaks of very
unloverlike crimson, and she would probably have marred John's hand
for ever signing Magna Charta, but that he was backed by the advantage
of numbers, and that her sword broke short on the boss of his buckler.
John was following up his advantage to make a captive of the lady,
when he was suddenly felled to the earth by an unseen antagonist.
Some of his men picked him carefully up, and conveyed him to his tent,
stunned and stupified.
When he recovered, he found Harpiton diligently assisting in his recovery,
more in the fear of losing his place than in that of losing his master:
the prince's first inquiry was for the prisoner he had been on the point
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