Nik BabicYelton/6thEnglish III DCApril 28, 2014“Corn Pone Opinion” Questions on Rhetoric and Style1. Mark Twain writes this essay to shed light on his belief that people's thoughts and actions are influenced by those around them. His belief that people conform to the rest of society fuels his essay. This can be seen when Twain includes his idea that “it is our nature to conform; it is a force that not many can successfully resist” (718). Twain shows that people begin to conform without using their minds to make their decisions.2. In the first two paragraphs of “Corn Pone Opinion” Twain uses the pronoun “I.” He then switches to the pronoun “we” to instill his main argument that people conform to what is popular. It essentially addresses everyone as part of a united group, all brought together by a simple idea that everyone has chosen to conform to. His use of the pronoun “we” regarding his argument can best be seen when he states “we will just comply, and leave it at that” (719). By using “we” two people create an emphasis on unity in his essay.3. The anecdote that Mark Twain inserts at the beginning of his essay adds a personal example that helps develop his thesis. The anecdote takes nothing away from the essay. In fact, it adds to his essay because it furthers his argument. In the South, slavery was strongly supported. For this reason Jerry could not preach. But why did everyone support slavery? The answer is simple and is answered throughout Twain's essay. One person supports slavery, then “the neighbor notices and follows,” before long the entire neighborhood supports slavery. The addition of the anecdote adds an example of conformity to Twain's essay which... in the middle of the paper... if the paragraphs had been broken up they would have been very discontinuous. Twain included subordinate clauses in the middle of the paragraph to help connect the idea of ​​conformity with "the everyday interest discussed at the beginning of the essay." The parallelism introduced in the two long sentences that make up paragraph 14 underlines Twain's trust in people. It shows that people believe they spend time and effort thinking about politics and deciding which party to belong to when in reality they are influenced by those around them. This can be seen when two states “read its literature, but not that of the other side” (720). This shows that many people actually have no idea of ​​the whole picture. They only receive information about a single party and make their decision based on that, without taking the time to see both sides.