| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: Abbe Cruchot, and Monsieur C. de Bonfons hastened to arrive before the
des Grassins, and be the first to pay their compliments to
Mademoiselle Eugenie. All three brought enormous bouquets, gathered in
their little green-houses. The stalks of the flowers which the
president intended to present were ingeniously wound round with a
white satin ribbon adorned with gold fringe. In the morning Monsieur
Grandet, following his usual custom on the days that commemorated the
birth and the fete of Eugenie, went to her bedside and solemnly
presented her with his paternal gift,--which for the last thirteen
years had consisted regularly of a curious gold-piece. Madame Grandet
gave her daughter a winter dress or a summer dress, as the case might
Eugenie Grandet |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll: quite took off her thoughts from the unhappiness of the poor
little creature.
`I know you are a friend, the little voice went on; `a dear
friend, and an old friend. And you won't hurt me, though I AM an
insect.'
`What kind of insect?' Alice inquired a little anxiously. What
she really wanted to know was, whether it could sting or not, but
she thought this wouldn't be quite a civil question to ask.
`What, then you don't--' the little voice began, when it was
drowned by a shrill scream from the engine, and everybody jumped
up in alarm, Alice among the rest.
Through the Looking-Glass |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: little Tony's fancy. His unformulated criticism on the others
was that they lacked action. True, in the view of St. Peter's an
experienced-looking gentleman in a full-bottomed wig was pointing
out the fairly obvious monument to a bashful companion, who had
presumably not ventured to raise his eyes to it; while, at the
doors of the Seraglio, a group of turbaned infidels observed with
less hesitancy the approach of a veiled lady on a camel. But in
Venice so many things were happening at once--more, Tony was
sure, than had ever happened in Boston in a twelve-month or in
Salem in a long lifetime. For here, by their garb, were people
of every nation on earth, Chinamen, Turks, Spaniards, and many
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