| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Awakening & Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin: There was a picture of Madame Lebrun with Robert as a baby,
seated in her lap, a round-faced infant with a fist in his mouth.
The eyes alone in the baby suggested the man. And that was he also
in kilts, at the age of five, wearing long curls and holding a whip
in his hand. It made Edna laugh, and she laughed, too, at the portrait
in his first long trousers; while another interested her, taken when he
left for college, looking thin, long-faced, with eyes full of fire,
ambition and great intentions. But there was no recent picture,
none which suggested the Robert who had gone away five days ago,
leaving a void and wilderness behind him.
"Oh, Robert stopped having his pictures taken when he had to
Awakening & Selected Short Stories |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: We looked at him in surprise.
"The tugboat skipper told me when he came on board
for your letters, sir," explained the young man.
"He expects to take her up the river the day after tomorrow."
After thus overwhelming us with the extent of his information
he slipped out of the cabin. The mate observed regretfully
that he "could not account for that young fellow's whims."
What prevented him telling us all about it at once,
he wanted to know.
I detained him as he was making a move. For the last two days the crew had
had plenty of hard work, and the night before they had very little sleep.
The Secret Sharer |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: are not in the backwoods now and must not expect so much of the men. These
rough border men know little of refinement like that with which you have been
familiar. Some of them are quiet and never speak unless addressed; their
simplicity is remarkable; Lew Wetzel and your brother Jonathan, when they are
not fighting Indians, are examples. On the other hand, some of them are
boisterous and if they get anything to drink they will make trouble for you.
Why, I went to a party one night after I had been here only a few weeks and
they played a game in which every man in the place kissed me."
"Gracious! Please tell me when any such games are likely to be proposed and
I'll stay home," said Betty.
"I have learned to get along very well by simply making the best of it,"
Betty Zane |
