| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Dark Lady of the Sonnets by George Bernard Shaw: ever. "I loved the man," says Ben, "this side idolatry, as well as
any." Now why in the name of common sense should he have made that
qualification unless there had been, not only idolatry, but idolatry
fulsome enough to irritate Jonson into an express disavowal of it?
Jonson, the bricklayer, must have felt sore sometimes when Shakespear
spoke and wrote of bricklayers as his inferiors. He must have felt it
a little hard that being a better scholar, and perhaps a braver and
tougher man physically than Shakespear, he was not so successful or so
well liked. But in spite of this he praised Shakespear to the utmost
stretch of his powers of eulogy: in fact, notwithstanding his
disclaimer, he did not stop "this side idolatry." If, therefore, even
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: that stain. It was still damp, it exhaled a strong odour of
coffee, and imbedded in the nap of the carpet I found some little
splinters of china. What had happened was plain to me, for not
two minutes before I had placed my little case on the table near
the window, and the table, tilting up, had deposited it upon the
floor on precisely the identical spot. In exactly the same way,
Mrs. Inglethorp had laid down her cup of coffee on reaching her
room the night before, and the treacherous table had played her
the same trick.
"What happened next is mere guess work on my part, but I should
say that Mrs. Inglethorp picked up the broken cup and placed it
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: all, who has the right to cast a stone against one who has
suffered? Cannot repentance wipe out an act of folly? Why should
there be one law for men, and another for women? Mother, I forgive
you. [Tries to embrace her again.]
MISS PRISM. [Still more indignant.] Mr. Worthing, there is some
error. [Pointing to LADY BRACKNELL.] There is the lady who can
tell you who you really are.
JACK. [After a pause.] Lady Bracknell, I hate to seem
inquisitive, but would you kindly inform me who I am?
LADY BRACKNELL. I am afraid that the news I have to give you will
not altogether please you. You are the son of my poor sister, Mrs.
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