| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: "And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark
places of the earth."
He was the only man of us who still "followed the sea."
The worst that could be said of him was that he did not represent
his class. He was a seaman, but he was a wanderer, too, while most
seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary life.
Their minds are of the stay-at-home order, and their home is
always with them--the ship; and so is their country--the sea.
One ship is very much like another, and the sea is always the same.
In the immutability of their surroundings the foreign shores,
the foreign faces, the changing immensity of life, glide past,
Heart of Darkness |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: horse; my entertainment, being at the houses of friends, cost me
nothing; and my only outlay was seventy-five cents for a barrel
of cider, which some farm-hands insisted I should treat them to."
One act of his while a member of the legislature requires special
mention because of the great events of his after-life. Even at
that early date, nearly a quarter of a century before the
beginning of the Civil War, slavery was proving a cause of much
trouble and ill-will. The "abolitionists," as the people were
called who wished the slaves to be free, and the "pro-slavery"
men, who approved of keeping them in bondage, had already come to
wordy war. Illinois was a free State, but many of its people
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: probably lying and has loads of money and just won't give me much."
Scarlett knew Uncle Henry wasn't lying. The few letters she had
had from him in connection with Charles' property showed that. The
old lawyer was battling valiantly to save the house and the one
piece of downtown property where the warehouse had been, so Wade
and Scarlett would have something left from the wreckage. Scarlett
knew he was carrying these taxes for her at a great sacrifice.
"Of course, he hasn't any money," thought Scarlett grimly. "Well,
check him and Aunt Pitty off my list. There's nobody left but
Rhett. I'll have to do it. I must do it. But I mustn't think
about it now. . . . I must get her to talking about Rhett so I can
Gone With the Wind |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Arizona Nights by Stewart Edward White: "Over the next ridge," Uncle Jim promised us, "is an old shack
that I fixed up seven years ago. We can all make out to get in
it."
Over the next ridge, therefore, we slipped and slid, thanking the
god of luck for each ten feet gained. It was growing cold. The
cliffs and palisades near at hand showed dimly behind the falling
rain; beyond them waved and eddied the storm mists through which
the mountains revealed and concealed proportions exaggerated into
unearthly grandeur. Deep in the clefts of the box canons the
streams were filling. The roar of their rapids echoed from
innumerable precipices. A soft swish of water usurped the world
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