Comparing Mark Twain's Views On Conformity And Opinion

1. Twain’s purpose is to expose how people conform to the opinions of those around them. He explains that no one form their own original opinions, “Men think they think upon great political questions, and they do; but they think with their party, not independently; they read its literature, but not that of the other side; they arrive at convictions, but they are drawn from a partial view of the matter in hand and are of no particular value” (Twain). His purpose is to show how much people depend on others to form opinions.
2. The effect of changing from I to we is it shows that Twain himself falls victim to corn-pone opinions and includes the audience. The first time he uses a plural first-person pronoun he explains the instinct to conform,

Twain’s qualification of Jerry’s statement is ironic because people believe they are thinking independently by calculating their opinions, but they are really calculating how to conform with the majority. He says, “It was his idea that a man conforms to the majority view of his locality by calculation and intention” (Twain). While many people believe they think independently, this quote argues that people’s views are just a matter of conforming and careful, calculated and intentional response to what everybody else thinks.
7. Paragraph 11 is so long because it breaks down how corn-pone opinion affect morals, religion, and politics. The subordinate clause gives examples of people conforming to those around them, “Mohammedans are Mohammedans because they are born and reared among the sect, not because they have thought it out and can furnish sound reasons for being Mohammedans…” (Twain) This paragraph emphasizes the point he is trying to make. He could’ve split it up, but keeping it all together was the best choice because it ties the two sides of his argument together.
8. The effect of parallelism in paragraph 12 is the repetition helps the reader focus on what Twain is trying to say. He says, “They swarm with their party, the feel with their party, they are happy in their party’s approval…” (Twain) The repetition makes Twain’s words easier to understand and therefore more

The effect of capitalizing “Public Opinion” and “Voice of God” emphasizes and exaggerates the importance of public opinion on people. It seems like something extremely powerful, “Its name is Public Opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles everything” (Twain). This personification makes public opinion seem more important than it is.
10. The phrase “helping to inhabit” sets the tone of humbleness and that of a willing student ready to learn the ways of the world by sheer observation, rather than a righteous tone of someone who has questions but already knows the answers. Twain is setting the tone that he is just a regular, curious observer of humans, “We are creatures of outside influences; as a rule we do not think, we only imitate” (Twain). Twain is inviting the reader by setting this tone to come explore with him the root and importance of public opinion in their lives.
11. An example of understatement is Twain describing that Jerry never had the opportunity to become a speaker. He says, “But it did not happen; in the distribution of rewards he was overlooked” (Twain). This is an understated and ironic way of bringing attention to the conditions of slaves. Twain believes these issues are important, but not enough so to bring the full attention onto