| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: work of art is one the choice of whose subject is conditioned by
the temperament of the artist, and comes directly out of it. In
fine, a healthy work of art is one that has both perfection and
personality. Of course, form and substance cannot be separated in
a work of art; they are always one. But for purposes of analysis,
and setting the wholeness of aesthetic impression aside for a
moment, we can intellectually so separate them. An unhealthy work
of art, on the other hand, is a work whose style is obvious, old-
fashioned, and common, and whose subject is deliberately chosen,
not because the artist has any pleasure in it, but because he
thinks that the public will pay him for it. In fact, the popular
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: in white, and wore no ornament in the plaits of hair braided
about her head; her face was calm; there was no sign there of
pride, nor of pain, nor of joy that she did not feel. No one
could read her soul; she stood there like some Niobe carved in
marble. For a few intimate friends there was a tinge of satire in
her smile; but no scrutiny saw any change in her, nor had she
looked otherwise in the days of the glory of her happiness. The
most callous of her guests admired her as young Rome applauded
some gladiator who could die smiling. It seemed as if society had
adorned itself for a last audience of one of its sovereigns.
"I was afraid that you would not come," she said to Rastignac.
Father Goriot |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Herland by Charlotte Gilman: were a constant surprise to us.
Of course, we were willing to meet them halfway. It was wholly
to our advantage to be able to understand and speak with them, and
as to refusing to teach them--why should we? Later on we did try
open rebellion, but only once.
That first meal was pleasant enough, each of us quietly studying
his companion, Jeff with sincere admiration, Terry with that highly
technical look of his, as of a past master--like a lion tamer,
a serpent charmer, or some such professional. I myself was
intensely interested.
It was evident that those sets of five were there to check any
Herland |
