| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: face is withered, like an apple that has clung
all winter to the tree. When Ivar lost his land
through mismanagement a dozen years ago,
Alexandra took him in, and he has been a mem-
ber of her household ever since. He is too old to
work in the fields, but he hitches and unhitches
the work-teams and looks after the health
of the stock. Sometimes of a winter evening
Alexandra calls him into the sitting-room to
read the Bible aloud to her, for he still reads
very well. He dislikes human habitations, so
O Pioneers! |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: tried to make out the time. He could not see anything without
a light. Again he went down on his knees and elbows as he had
done when he lighted a cigarette, got out his matches, and
proceeded to strike one. This time he went to work more
carefully, and feeling with his fingers for a match with the
largest head and the greatest amount of phosphorus, lit it at
the first try. Bringing the face of the watch under the light
he could hardly believe his eyes. . . . It was only ten
minutes past twelve. Almost the whole night was still before
him.
'Oh, how long the night is!' he thought, feeling a cold shudder
Master and Man |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart: wrapped as he was in the selfish absorption of his disappointment.
When she heard the postman outside and went to the door for the
mail, she thought he had not noticed her going. But when she
returned he was watching her with jealous, almost tragic eyes.
"I suppose you hear from him by every mail."
"There has been nothing to-day."
Something in her voice or her face made him look at her closely.
"Has he written at all?"
"The first day he got there. Not since."
He went away soon, and not after all with the feeling of going for
good. In his sceptical young mind, fed by Clare's malice, was
The Breaking Point |
