| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Essays of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: which I lay so long in durance. ROBINSON CRUSOE; some of the books
of that cheerful, ingenious, romantic soul, Mayne Reid; and a work
rather gruesome and bloody for a child, but very picturesque, called
PAUL BLAKE; these are the three strongest impressions I remember:
THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON came next, LONGO INTERVALLO. At these I
played, conjured up their scenes, and delighted to hear them
rehearsed unto seventy times seven. I am not sure but what PAUL
BLAKE came after I could read. It seems connected with a visit to
the country, and an experience unforgettable. The day had been warm;
H- and I had played together charmingly all day in a sandy wilderness
across the road; then came the evening with a great flash of colour
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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: The friend, with a grievance in his eye,
went to the youth. "I wonder what he does
want," he said. "He must think we went out
there an' played marbles! I never see sech a
man!"
The youth developed a tranquil philosophy
for these moments of irritation. "Oh, well," he
rejoined, "he probably didn't see nothing of it at
all and got mad as blazes, and concluded we were
a lot of sheep, just because we didn't do what he
wanted done. It's a pity old Grandpa Hender-
The Red Badge of Courage |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: ship seen once so many years ago in the clear flush of a cold,
pale sunrise I have not forgotten. How could I--the first
English ship on whose side I ever laid my hand! The name--I read
it letter by letter on the bow--was James Westoll. Not very
romantic, you will say. The name of a very considerable,
well-known, and universally respected North country ship-owner, I
believe. James Westoll! What better name could an honourable
hard-working ship have? To me the very grouping of the letters
is alive with the romantic feeling of her reality as I saw her
floating motionless and borrowing an ideal grace from the austere
purity of the light.
A Personal Record |
