What is the authors intention in describing each person's activities before the noiseless flash

I think the author intention is wanting he readers to have a look of what’s life like during the times of war, and how in a flash of a second, all of it changed with a single bomb. The bomb’s destructive power was so strong and the author wanted to capture the essence of it and its surprise to the people.

answer: it means that he would rather write than preach.

explanation: its what it says

irving effectively uses emotional responses to create suspense in the story.irving’s tone creates expectations for the reader, which in turn create suspense.irving’s suspense would have been more effective with more vivid details.irving’s story is not suspenseful