The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: dining-room, where there is naught to fear from the stickiness of
the network. Before going to it, she first makes her prey turn in
the converse direction to that of the original rotation. Her
object is to free the nearest spokes, which supplied pivots for the
machinery. They are essential factors which it behoves her to keep
intact, if need be by sacrificing a few crossbars.
It is done; the twisted ends are put back into position. The well-
trussed game is at last removed from the web and fastened on behind
with a thread. The Spider then marches in front and the load is
trundled across the web and hoisted to the resting-floor, which is
both an inspection-post and a dining-hall. When the Spider is of a
 The Life of the Spider |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: the South.
The want of free hands is felt in a State in proportion as
the number of slaves decreases. But in proportion as labor is
performed by free hands, slave labor becomes less productive; and
the slave is then a useless or onerous possession, whom it is
important to export to those Southern States where the same
competition is not to be feared. Thus the abolition of slavery
does not set the slave free, but it merely transfers him from one
master to another, and from the North to the South.
The emancipated negroes, and those born after the abolition
of slavery, do not, indeed, migrate from the North to the South;
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Rezanov by Gertrude Atherton: so glorious a morning. Even Sturgis, always care-
ful to be as nearly one with these people as his dif-
ferent appearance and temperament would permit,
wore clothes of green linen, a ruffled shirt, deer-skin
botas and sombrero.
Three of the ship's canoes awaited the guests, and
as not one of the women had ever set foot in a boat,
there was a chorus of shrieks. Dona Ignacia mur-
mured an audible prayer, and clutched Gertrudis
Rudisinda to her breast.
"Madre de Dios! The water! I cannot!" she
 Rezanov |