| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy: When he came to Petersburg and stopped at his aunt's--his
mother's sister, the Countess Tcharsky, wife of a former
minister--Nekhludoff at once found himself in the very midst of
that aristocratic circle which had grown so foreign to him. This
was very unpleasant, but there was no possibility of getting out
of it. To put up at an hotel instead of at his aunt's house would
have been to offend his aunt, and, besides, his aunt had
important connections and might be extremely useful in all these
matters he meant to attend to.
"What is this I hear about you? All sorts of marvels," said the
Countess Katerina Ivanovna Tcharsky, as she gave him his coffee
 Resurrection |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: "Shet yer face, an' come home, yeh damned old fool," roared
Jimmie at her. She strided up to him and twirled her fingers in
his face. Her eyes were darting flames of unreasoning rage and her
frame trembled with eagerness for a fight.
"T'hell wid yehs! An' who deh hell are yehs? I ain't givin' a snap
of me fingers fer yehs," she bawled at him. She turned her huge back
in tremendous disdain and climbed the stairs to the next floor.
Jimmie followed, cursing blackly. At the top of the flight he
seized his mother's arm and started to drag her toward the door of
their room.
"Come home, damn yeh," he gritted between his teeth.
 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |