The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber: She was sketching him swiftly, daringly, masterfully. She
was bringing out the distinction, the suffering, the
boyishness in his face, and toning down the queer little
foreign air he had. Toning it, but not omitting it
altogether. She was too good a showman for that. As she
sketched she talked, and as she talked she drew Theodore
into the conversation, deftly, and just when he was needed.
She gave them what they had come for--a story. And a good
one. She brought in Mizzi and Otti, for color, and she saw
to it that they spelled those names as they should be
spelled. She managed to gloss over the question of Olga.
Fanny Herself |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: darkness?'
'In truth I cannot tell, Teule, still I have heard wise men say
that if love is to be found anywhere, it is in this same darkness
of death, that is light indeed. Grieve not, for if there is truth
in the faith of which you have told me or in our own, either on
this earth or beyond it, with the eyes of the spirit you will see
your dear before another sun is set, and I pray that you may find
her faithful to you. Tell me now, how much does she love you?
Would SHE have lain by your side on the bed of sacrifice as, had
things gone otherwise between us, Teule, it was my hope to do?'
'No,' I answered, 'it is not the custom of our women to kill
Montezuma's Daughter |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Golden Threshold by Sarojini Naidu: and women in the street, dramatic faces over which the disturbing
experiences of life have passed and left their symbols, one's
heart thrills up into one's throat. No, no, no, a thousand times
no! how can one deliberately renounce this coloured, unquiet,
fiery human life of the earth?" And, all the time, her subtle
criticism is alert, and this woman of the East marvels at the
women of the West, "the beautiful worldly women of the West,"
whom she sees walking in the Cascine, "taking the air so
consciously attractive in their brilliant toilettes, in the
brilliant coquetry of their manner!" She finds them "a little
incomprehensible," "profound artists in all the subtle
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