| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: day, those vast plains which uninterruptedly extend to the
Atlantic Ocean can be seen. We descended to the upper
limit of vegetation, and found good quarters for the night
under the shelter of some large fragments of rock. We met
here some passengers, who made anxious inquiries about the
state of the road. Shortly after it was dark the clouds suddenly
cleared away, and the effect was quite magical. The
great mountains, bright with the full moon, seemed impending
over us on all sides, as over a deep crevice: one morning,
very early, I witnessed the same striking effect. As
soon as the clouds were dispersed it froze severely; but as
 The Voyage of the Beagle |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad: himself into a fit, the back-door locked, his wife in
hysterics; and all for an unfortunate dirty tramp,
supposed to be even then lurking in his stackyard.
Was he? He would teach him to frighten women.
"Smith is notoriously hot-tempered, but the
sight of some nondescript and miry creature sitting
crosslegged amongst a lot of loose straw, and
swinging itself to and fro like a bear in a cage,
made him pause. Then this tramp stood up si-
lently before him, one mass of mud and filth from
head to foot. Smith, alone amongst his stacks with
 Amy Foster |