| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: "I always thought he would play us some deadly trick,"
he said, with a peculiar emphasis on the HE.
It gave me a mental shock, but I had neither the
mind, nor the heart, nor the spirit to argue with
him. My form of sickness was indifference. The
creeping paralysis of a hopeless outlook. So I
only gazed at him. Mr. Burns broke into further
speech.
"Eh! What! No! You won't believe it? Well,
how do you account for this? How do you think it
could have happened?"
 The Shadow Line |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Redheaded Outfield by Zane Grey: to wonder and certainty, then fierce attack from
both tongues and bats, and lastly--for ball players
are generous--unstinted admiration.
Somehow, not only the first climaxes of a game
but the decisions, the convictions, the reputations
of pitchers and fielders evolve around the great
hitter. Plain it was that the vast throng of
spectators, eager to believe in a new find, wild to
welcome a new star, yet loath to trust to their own
impulsive judgments, held themselves in check
until once more the great Lane had faced the
 The Redheaded Outfield |