| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Rescue by Joseph Conrad: Lingard seemed staggered as though he had been hit in the chest.
"I was thinking of the brig," he said, gently.
"Mrs. Travers would be on board," retorted Carter.
"What! on board. Ah yes; on board. Where else?" stammered
Lingard.
Carter looked at him in amazement. "Fight! You ask!" he said,
slowly. "You just try me."
"I shall," ejaculated Lingard. He left the cabin calling out
"serang!" A thin cracked voice was heard immediately answering,
"Tuan!" and the door slammed to.
"You trust him, Mrs. Travers?" asked Carter, rapidly.
The Rescue |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: laying my hand on his cool forehead. It proved to
me that this atrocious absurdity was rooted in the
man himself and not in the disease, which, ap-
parently, had emptied him of every power, mental
and physical, except that one fixed idea.
I avoided giving Mr. Burns any opening for con-
versation for the next few days. I merely used to
throw him a hasty, cheery word when passing his
door. I believe that if he had had the strength he
would have called out after me more than once.
But he hadn't the strength. Ransome, however,
The Shadow Line |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Voice of the City by O. Henry: down to the corner and get a five-cent cigar,"he
concluded.
John Hopkins took his bat aid picked his way
down the musty halls and stairs of the flat-house
The evening air was mild, and the streets shrill
with the careless cries of children playing games con-
trolled by mysterious rhythms and phrases. Their
elders held the doorways and steps with leisurely pipe
and gossip. Paradoxically, the fire-escapes sup-
ported lovers in couples who made no attempt to fly
the mounting conflagration they were there to fan.
The Voice of the City |
