| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Persuasion by Jane Austen: Elizabeth arm in arm with Miss Carteret, and looking on the broad back
of the dowager Viscountess Dalrymple before her, had nothing to wish for
which did not seem within her reach; and Anne--but it would be
an insult to the nature of Anne's felicity, to draw any comparison
between it and her sister's; the origin of one all selfish vanity,
of the other all generous attachment.
Anne saw nothing, thought nothing of the brilliancy of the room.
Her happiness was from within. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks glowed;
but she knew nothing about it. She was thinking only of
the last half hour, and as they passed to their seats, her mind took
a hasty range over it. His choice of subjects, his expressions,
Persuasion |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw: PERCIVAL. I'm the son of three fathers. I mistrust these wild
impulses.
HYPATIA. Take care. Youre letting the moment slip. I feel the first
chill of the wave of prudence. Save me.
PERCIVAL. Really, Miss Tarleton _[she strikes him across the face]_
--Damn you! _[Recovering himself, horrified at his lapse]_ I beg
your pardon; but since weve both forgotten ourselves, youll please
allow me to leave the house. _[He turns towards the inner door,
having left his cap in the bedroom]._
HYPATIA. _[standing in his way]_ Are you ashamed of having said
"Damn you" to me?
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Lesson of the Master by Henry James: o'clock strike, he jumped up, remembering what General Fancourt had
said about his coming after dinner. He'd go - he'd see her at
least; perhaps he should see what it meant. He felt as if some of
the elements of a hard sum had been given him and the others were
wanting: he couldn't do his sum till he had got all his figures.
He dressed and drove quickly, so that by half-past eleven he was at
Manchester Square. There were a good many carriages at the door -
a party was going on; a circumstance which at the last gave him a
slight relief, for now he would rather see her in a crowd. People
passed him on the staircase; they were going away, going "on" with
the hunted herdlike movement of London society at night. But
|
