| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson: dried grasses. A large book was laid religiously on the
table - "From Palace to Hovel," I believe, its name - full of
the raciest experiences in England. The author had mingled
freely with all classes, the nobility particularly meeting
him with open arms; and I must say that traveller had ill
requited his reception. His book, in short, was a capital
instance of the Penny Messalina school of literature; and
there arose from it, in that cool parlour, in that silent,
wayside, mountain inn, a rank atmosphere of gold and blood
and "Jenkins," and the "Mysteries of London," and sickening,
inverted snobbery, fit to knock you down. The mention of
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Danny's Own Story by Don Marquis: They was a spider rousted out of his web by that
disturbance among the strings and papers. He
started down from above on jest one string of web,
seemingly spinning part of it out of himself as he
come, the way they do. I couldn't keep my eyes
off'n him.
"Murder," says the doctor, "is a thing."
"It is a WORD," says the other man, "FOR a thing.
For a thing which sometimes seems necessary.
Lynching, war, execution, murder--they are all
words for different ways of wiping out human life.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Walden by Henry David Thoreau: would be lost there, and their voices no longer afflict the ear of
the State, that they would not be as an enemy within its walls, they
do not know by how much truth is stronger than error, nor how much
more eloquently and effectively he can combat injustice who has
experienced a little in his own person. Cast your whole vote, not a
strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is
powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a
minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole
weight. If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or
give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to
choose. If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this
Walden |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: was touched by this liberality, and made her a present of six thousand
francs a year in the funds as conscience money. As the Comtesse de
Soulas had an income of forty-eight thousand francs from her own
lands, and was quite incapable of alienating them in order to diminish
Rosalie's share, Mademoiselle de Watteville was still a fortune to
marry, of eighteen hundred thousand francs; les Rouxey, with the
Baron's additions, and certain improvements, might yield twenty
thousand francs a year, besides the value of the house, rents, and
preserves. So Rosalie and her mother, who soon adopted the Paris style
and fashions, easily obtained introductions to the best society. The
golden key--eighteen hundred thousand francs-- embroidered on
Albert Savarus |
