Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of the prince. hence it is to be remarked that, in seizing a state, the usurper ought to examine closely into all those injuries which it is necessary for him to inflict, and to do them all at one stroke so as not to have to repeat them daily; and thus by not unsettling men he will be able to reassure them, and win them to himself by benefits. he who does otherwise, either from timidity or evil advice, is always compelled to keep the knife in his hand; neither can he rely on his subjects, nor can they attach themselves to him, owing to their continued and repeated wrongs. for injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less; benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer. how does machiavelli’s use of words such as seizing, usurper, inflict, knife, win, reassure, and benefits affect the tone of the passage? a. there are more words with negative ones than positive ones, creating a frightening tone. b. there are more words with negative ones than positive ones, creating a threatening tone. c. the words with positive connotations soften the ones with negative connotations to create a serious, matter-of-fact tone. d. the words with positive connotations are used to create an encouraging tone.

The correct answer is answer C ("The words with positive connotations soften the ones with negative connotations to create a serious, matter-of-fact tone").

The tone of this excerpt is remarkably pragmatic for speaking about such horrific matter. Machiavelli achieves this by never losing sight of his aim, which is to instruct efficiency. He's very aware of the delicate nature of the subject matter. Without omitting important details even though they may seem cruel or gruesome, he's able to keep a cold tone by neutralizing these negative connotations with positive language.

This effect is made more clear in the last paragraph:

"For injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, offend less..." - Here he's talking about necessary punishment and mercy at the same time.

"Benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour may last longer..." - Machiavelli is talking about manipulation and using the word flavour which has a positive connotation that softens the cruel nature of the act.

Hope this helps!

the answers are:

1. dolores driscoll - b. first person minor

dolores is a minor character who happens to be driving the bus at the time of the accident. she narrates picking up each of the children and her last memory is the children being thrown around the bus.

2. billy ansel - a. first person major

billy loses his twins in the accident. he tells his own story, how he witnessed the accident and how he tried to the rescuers. he is a major character, as he is at the center of the story.

3. mitchell stephens - c. first person observer

mitchell enters the story after the accident. he is a lawyer who learns about the accident based on other characters observations. though he tells the story from a first person perspective, he is just an observer.

as for matcthing the message or lesson posted with the person who said them:

1."obviously, you can't control everything, but you are obliged to take care of the few things you can. i'm an optimist basically who acts like a pessimist. on principle. just in case." - dolores driscoll

2. "i could no longer believe even in life. . for me now the only reality was death." - billy ansel