| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: apprentice, as I suppose, was standing upon the counter, with
his back also to the door, and a candle in his hand, looking
and reaching up to the upper shelf for something he wanted,
so that both were engaged mighty earnestly, and nobody else
in the shop.
This was the bait; and the devil, who I said laid the snare, as
readily prompted me as if he had spoke, for I remember, and
shall never forget it, 'twas like a voice spoken to me over my
shoulder, 'Take the bundle; be quick; do it this moment.' It
was no sooner said but I stepped into the shop, and with my
back to the wench, as if I had stood up for a cart that was
Moll Flanders |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: So Meg went away to `accept with thanks', look over her dress,
and sing blithely as she did up her one real lace frill, while Jo
finished her story, her four apples, and had a game of romps with
Scrabble.
On New Year's Eve the parlor was deserted, for the two younger
girls played dressing maids and the two elder were absorbed in the
all-important business of `getting ready for the party'. Simple
as the toilets were, there was a great deal of running up and down,
laughing and talking, and at one time a strong smell of burned hair
pervaded the house. Meg wanted a few curls about her face, and Jo
undertook to pinch the papered locks with a pair of hot tongs.
Little Women |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Myths and Myth-Makers by John Fiske: their lexicons, to keep fully abreast with the latest views in
linguistics. In matters of detail one can hardly ever broach a
new hypothesis without misgivings lest somebody, in some
weekly journal published in Germany, may just have anticipated
and refuted it. Yet while Mr. Gladstone may be excused for
being unsound in philology, it is far less excusable that he
should sit down to write a book about Homer, abounding in
philological statements, without the slightest knowledge of
what has been achieved in that science for several years past.
In spite of all drawbacks, however, his book shows an abiding
taste for scholarly pursuits, and therefore deserves a certain
Myths and Myth-Makers |
