| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: make good an entrance by force. Here, it will be remembered, the
words of the narrative run thus:
"And Ethelred, who was by nature of a doughty heart, and who
was now mighty withal, on account of the powerfulness of the wine
which he had drunken, waited no longer to hold parley with the
hermit, who, in sooth, was of an obstinate and maliceful turn,
but, feeling the rain upon his shoulders, and fearing the rising
of the tempest, uplifted his mace outright, and, with blows, made
quickly room in the plankings of the door for his gauntleted
hand; and now pulling therewith sturdily, he so cracked, and
ripped, and tore all asunder, that the noise of the dry and
The Fall of the House of Usher |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: passion ran upon the spot; how high this series of blunders and
mishaps had heated the resentment of the Germans against all other
nationalities and of all other nationalities against the Germans.
But there was one country beyond the borders of Samoa where the
question had aroused a scarce less angry sentiment. The breach of
the Washington Congress, the evidence of Sewall before a sub-
committee on foreign relations, the proposal to try Klein before a
military court, and the rags of Captain Hamilton's flag, had
combined to stir the people of the States to an unwonted fervour.
Germany was for the time the abhorred of nations. Germans in
America publicly disowned the country of their birth. In Honolulu,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Europeans by Henry James: "My brother goes off sketching, for
hours; I can never depend upon him. So I was to send Mr. Acton to beg
you to come and give me the benefit of your wisdom."
Gertrude looked at her sister. She wanted to say, "That is what she would
have done." Charlotte said that they hoped the Baroness would always come
and dine with them; it would give them so much pleasure; and, in that case,
she would spare herself the trouble of having a cook.
"Ah, but I must have a cook!" cried the Baroness. "An old
negress in a yellow turban. I have set my heart upon that.
I want to look out of my window and see her sitting there
on the grass, against the background of those crooked,
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