| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Cratylus by Plato: arbitrium est, et jus et norma loquendi.'
(8) There are two ways in which a language may attain permanence or fixity.
First, it may have been embodied in poems or hymns or laws, which may be
repeated for hundreds, perhaps for thousands of years with a religious
accuracy, so that to the priests or rhapsodists of a nation the whole or
the greater part of a language is literally preserved; secondly, it may be
written down and in a written form distributed more or less widely among
the whole nation. In either case the language which is familiarly spoken
may have grown up wholly or in a great measure independently of them. (1)
The first of these processes has been sometimes attended by the result that
the sound of the words has been carefully preserved and that the meaning of
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: a man to ask of him an explanation. In imagina-
tion he felt the scrutiny of his companions as he
painfully labored through some lies.
Eventually, his courage expended itself upon
these objections. The debates drained him of his
fire.
He was not cast down by this defeat of his
plan, for, upon studying the affair carefully, he
could not but admit that the objections were very
formidable.
Furthermore, various ailments had begun to
The Red Badge of Courage |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Daisy Miller by Henry James: But I guess we'll go this week, if we can get Randolph."
"Your brother is not interested in ancient monuments?"
Winterbourne inquired, smiling.
"He says he don't care much about old castles. He's only nine.
He wants to stay at the hotel. Mother's afraid to leave him alone,
and the courier won't stay with him; so we haven't been to many places.
But it will be too bad if we don't go up there." And Miss Miller
pointed again at the Chateau de Chillon.
"I should think it might be arranged," said Winterbourne.
"Couldn't you get some one to stay for the afternoon with Randolph?"
Miss Miller looked at him a moment, and then, very placidly,
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