| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Vision Splendid by William MacLeod Raine: reasons for disliking this one. His cousin was editor of the
_World_, and that paper was becoming a thorn in his side.
O'Brien took the cigar from his mouth. "Did youse go to the
primary last night?' he asked.
James did not even know there had been one. He had in point of
fact been at a Country Club dance.
"Can youse tell me what the vote of your precinct was at the last
city election?"
The budding statesman could not.
"What precinct do youse live in?"
Farnum was not quite sure. He explained that he had moved
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Statesman by Plato: approximate in thought and language to the Laws. There is the same decline
and tendency to monotony in style, the same self-consciousness,
awkwardness, and over-civility; and in the Laws is contained the pattern of
that second best form of government, which, after all, is admitted to be
the only attainable one in this world. The 'gentle violence,' the marriage
of dissimilar natures, the figure of the warp and the woof, are also found
in the Laws. Both expressly recognize the conception of a first or ideal
state, which has receded into an invisible heaven. Nor does the account of
the origin and growth of society really differ in them, if we make
allowance for the mythic character of the narrative in the Statesman. The
virtuous tyrant is common to both of them; and the Eleatic Stranger takes
Statesman |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: that afternoon, gliding along in the shadow of the houses. The poor
girl dared not raise her eyes, fearing to meet the glances of those
who had seen her brother's execution. After calling on Monsieur
Bonnet, who in spite of his weakness, consented to serve as father and
guardian to Denise in the matter, they all went to the lawyer's house
in the rue de la Comedie.
"Good-morning, my poor children," said the lawyer, bowing to Monsieur
Bonnet; "how can I be of service to you? Perhaps you would like me to
claim your brother's body and send it to you?"
"No, monsieur," replied Denise, weeping at an idea which had never yet
occurred to her. "I come to pay his debt to you--so far, at least, as
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