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Mark Twain's Corn Pone Opinions

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1. Twain’s main purpose in “Corn-Pone Opinions” is to explain how human nature determines what is favored in the society. In paragraph 9, Twain states, “It is our nature to conform; it is a force which not many can successfully resist” (718). Since the birth, each individual are instilled with this conformity that cannot be ignored. Twain wants his readers to realize that the reason behind conformity is to obtain other people’s approval, even if the individual pretends to be someone else. Through his writing, Twain displays how people follow the trend because they do not want to be left out in the society. 2. In the beginning of “Corn-Pone Opinions”, Twain uses “I” and then switches to “we” when he refers to the society and how conformity …show more content…

The effect of the parallelism in paragraph 14 is to show the different sides of the argument he shows in the paper. The first sentence shows how people “think with their party, not independently” (720). His main argument is presented in his first long sentence that everyone live in the midst of self-conformity. People are controlled by public opinions without really realizing it. The next sentence points out that “they are happy in their party’s approval” (720). This second phrase shows how the individuals are happy in the midst of public opinions. These people do not see the invisible conformity and just goes along with it with “right and honor” (720). While Twain supports his idea in this paragraph, he also provides the readers with a counterargument others may have against him. 9. Twain capitalizes “Public Opinion” and “Voice of God” at the end of the essay to hook the reader’s attention. He focuses on it to show the greater importance of public opinions, which others believe it as the voice of God. By capitalizing the phrases, it makes the two phrases seem more critical to his discussion. It conveys to the readers that the public opinions dominate the society and that everyone is captivated by it. Because it rules the whole society, Twain refers to it as the “Voice of

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