| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: pillars, and everything else that befitted the habitation of a
mighty king. It had grown up out of the earth in almost as
short a time as it had taken the armed host to spring from the
dragon's teeth; and what made the matter more strange, no seed
of this stately edifice ever had been planted.
When the five workmen beheld the dome, with the morning
sunshine making it look golden and glorious, they gave a great
shout.
"Long live King Cadmus," they cried, "in his beautiful palace."
And the new king, with his five faithful followers at his
heels, shouldering their pickaxes and marching in a rank (for
 Tanglewood Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: mouth with a critical air. He drew back his lips
and whistled through his teeth when his fingers
came in contact with the splashed blood and the
rare wound.
"Ah, here we are!" he said. He awkwardly
made further investigations. "Jest as I thought,"
he added, presently. "Yeh've been grazed by a
ball. It's raised a queer lump jest as if some
feller had lammed yeh on th' head with a club.
It stopped a-bleedin' long time ago. Th' most
about it is that in th' mornin' yeh'll feel that a
 The Red Badge of Courage |