| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery: had retorted that the Bells were not capable of doing the little
they had to do properly. Finally, Charlie Sloane fought Moody
Spurgeon MacPherson, because Moody Spurgeon had said that Anne
Shirley put on airs about her recitations, and Moody Spurgeon
was "licked"; consequently Moody Spurgeon's sister, Ella May,
would not "speak" to Anne Shirley all the rest of the winter.
With the exception of these trifling frictions, work in Miss
Stacy's little kingdom went on with regularity and smoothness.
The winter weeks slipped by. It was an unusually mild winter,
with so little snow that Anne and Diana could go to school nearly
every day by way of the Birch Path. On Anne's birthday they were
Anne of Green Gables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: enough, her courage all oozed out, and she let him pass without
speaking to him.
"What a fool I am!" exclaimed she to herself when he had passed.
"I shall never do anything in this way. There comes another
gentleman who looks as though he had a sweet tooth; at any rate,
he seems as good-natured as a pound of sugar. I will certainly
try him."
Her heart pounded against her ribs as though it had been worked
by a forty-horse engine--poor girl. It was a great undertaking to
her; quite as great as taking a six-story granite warehouse,
piling it full of merchandise from cellar to attic, and
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: difficulties, dexterous in management of business, and found most
able to make himself agreeable to those with whom there was business
to be done. The vigour with which he held by his purpose of
endeavouring in every possible way to bring the Christianity of
Abyssinia within the pale of the Catholic Church is in accordance
with the character that makes the centre of the story of this book.
Whimsical touches arise out of this strength of character and
readiness of resource, as when he tells of the taste of the
Abyssinians for raw cow's flesh, with a sauce high in royal
Abyssinian favour, made of the cow's gall and contents of its
entrails, of which, when he was pressed to partake, he could only
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Plutarch's Lives by A. H. Clough: While this conspiracy was afoot, a strange and dreadful
apparition was seen by Dion. As he sat one evening in a gallery
in his house alone and thoughtful, hearing a sudden noise he
turned about, and saw at the end of the colonnade, by clear
daylight, a tall woman, in her countenance and garb like one of
the tragical Furies, with a broom in her hand, sweeping the
floor. Being amazed and extremely affrighted, he sent for some
of his friends, and told them what he had seen, entreating them
to stay with him and keep him company all night; for he was
excessively discomposed and alarmed, fearing that if he were
left alone the specter would again appear to him. He saw it no
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