| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: the presence of curious spectators, she has
stopped going to the Norwegian Church and
drives up to the Reform Church at Hanover,
or goes with Marie Shabata to the Catholic
Church, locally known as "the French Church."
She has not told Marie about Carl, or her dif-
ferences with her brothers. She was never very
communicative about her own affairs, and
when she came to the point, an instinct told her
that about such things she and Marie would
not understand one another.
O Pioneers! |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Gentle Grafter by O. Henry: "'It seems to be all right,' says the Secret Service.
"'It is,' says I. 'And if you're not a married man I'll leave you to
talk a while with the lady. We won't mention the two dollars.'
"'Thanks,' says he. 'If I wasn't, I might. Good day, Mrs. Peters.'
"Toward the end of three months we had taken in something over $5,000,
and we saw it was time to quit. We had a good many complaints made to
us; and Mrs. Trotter seemed to be tired of the job. A good many
suitors had been calling to see her, and she didn't seem to like that.
"So we decides to pull out, and I goes down to Mrs. Trotter's hotel to
pay her last week's salary and say farewell and get her check for the
$2,000.
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