Despite discussing similar themes of war in the story "Ambush" and essay "Symptoms," O’Brien and Steinbeck chose different genres and modes to present their views. Compare the format from both these texts and evaluate how the chosen mode influences the presentation of ideas. Which do you think is more effective in conveying its central meaning?

Stone, two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron, a foot thick, and the iron grating which strained the light, i could not being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if i were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up. i wondered that it should have concluded at length that this was the best use it could put me to, and had never thought to avail itself of my services in some way. i saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one to climb or break through before they could get to be as free as i was. i did not for a moment feel confined, and the walls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar. i felt as if i alone of all my townsmen had paid my tax. — “civil disobedience,” henry david thoreau based on this passage, how did thoreau feel about his confinement?

What does twain find ironic and hypocritical about human patriotism?

In at least one hundred words, explain how the structure of elizabeth bishop’s “sestina” to convey meaning in the poem. provide specific evidence from the text to support your response.