| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: of his being by far too fine a gentleman to approve of her,
that at least they should not meet under such circumstances
as would make their meeting materially painful.
She trusted he would never speak of Miss Thorpe;
and indeed, as he must by this time be ashamed of the
part he had acted, there could be no danger of it;
and as long as all mention of Bath scenes were avoided,
she thought she could behave to him very civilly.
In such considerations time passed away, and it was certainly
in his favour that Eleanor should be so glad to see him,
and have so much to say, for half an hour was almost
Northanger Abbey |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln: Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . .
can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place
for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . .
we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead,
who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power
to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember,
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy: more tolerable.
When he was gone, Marty joined Mrs. Fitzpiers. She would fain
have consulted Marty on the question of Platonic relations with
her former husband, as she preferred to regard him. But Marty
showed no great interest in their affairs, so Grace said nothing.
They came onward, and saw Melbury standing at the scene of the
felling which had been audible to them, when, telling Marty that
she wished her meeting with Mr. Fitzpiers to be kept private, she
left the girl to join her father. At any rate, she would consult
him on the expediency of occasionally seeing her husband.
Her father was cheerful, and walked by her side as he had done in
The Woodlanders |
