| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad: reach and passing away from him was the very secret of existence--its
certitude, immaterial and precious! She moved to the door, and he
followed at her elbow, casting about for a magic word that would make
the enigma clear, that would compel the surrender of the gift. And
there is no such word! The enigma is only made clear by sacrifice, and
the gift of heaven is in the hands of every man. But they had lived in
a world that abhors enigmas, and cares for no gifts but such as can be
obtained in the street. She was nearing the door. He said hurriedly:
"'Pon my word, I loved you--I love you now."
She stopped for an almost imperceptible moment to give him an
indignant glance, and then moved on. That feminine penetration--so
Tales of Unrest |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery: Barry, going in and shutting the door.
Anne went back to Green Gables calm with despair.
"My last hope is gone," she told Marilla. "I went up and saw
Mrs. Barry myself and she treated me very insultingly. Marilla,
I do NOT think she is a well-bred woman. There is nothing more
to do except to pray and I haven't much hope that that'll do much
good because, Marilla, I do not believe that God Himself can do
very much with such an obstinate person as Mrs. Barry."
"Anne, you shouldn't say such things" rebuked Marilla, striving
to overcome that unholy tendency to laughter which she was
dismayed to find growing upon her. And indeed, when she told the
Anne of Green Gables |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: And if you have any money you had better give it to the senior
officer."
"I haven't written home . . ." Gusev sighed. "I shall die and
they won't know."
"They'll hear of it," the sick sailor brought out in a bass
voice. "When you die they will put it down in the _Gazette,_ at
Odessa they will send in a report to the commanding officer there
and he will send it to the parish or somewhere. .
Gusev began to be uneasy after such a conversation and to feel a
vague yearning. He drank water -- it was not that; he dragged
himself to the window and breathed the hot, moist air -- it was
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