| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Chita: A Memory of Last Island by Lafcadio Hearn: chiefly as a bathing-resort. Since the war the ocean reclaimed
its own;--the cane-fields have degenerated into sandy plains,
over which tramways wind to the smooth beach;--the
plantation-residences have been converted into rustic hotels, and
the negro-quarters remodelled into villages of cozy cottages for
the reception of guests. But with its imposing groves of oak,
its golden wealth of orange-trees, its odorous lanes of oleander.
its broad grazing-meadows yellow-starred with wild camomile,
Grande Isle remains the prettiest island of the Gulf; and its
loveliness is exceptional. For the bleakness of Grand Terre is
reiterated by most of the other islands,--Caillou, Cassetete,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: daged hand. "Come on!" Presently he grap-
pled with him as if for a wrestling bout. It was
as if he planned to drag the youth by the ear on
to the assault.
The private felt a sudden unspeakable indig-
nation against his officer. He wrenched fiercely
and shook him off.
"Come on herself, then," he yelled. There
was a bitter challenge in his voice.
They galloped together down the regimental
front. The friend scrambled after them. In front
The Red Badge of Courage |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: The others might have been asleep, but I was awake.
I listened, I listened on the watch for the sentence, for the word,
that would give me the clue to the faint uneasiness inspired
by this narrative that seemed to shape itself without human
lips in the heavy night-air of the river.
". . . Yes--I let him run on," Marlow began again,
"and think what he pleased about the powers that were
behind me. I did! And there was nothing behind me!
There was nothing but that wretched, old, mangled steamboat
I was leaning against, while he talked fluently about `the
necessity for every man to get on.' `And when one comes
Heart of Darkness |
