First, pick a feeling. This could be as vague and easy as anger~sadness~excitement~fear, or as nuanced as contentment... etc.
Then go through your senses and find words and concepts that remind you of that feeling. ie, Anger:
-FEEL the beating heart and heat in face and blood, the sweaty palms
-HEAR a ringing in your ears, or a shout you make
-SEE your vision become tunnely and closed off, or your face go read
-TASTE metallic in your mouth, or blood, or a food that reminds you of a time you were angry
etcetera.
Now, think of words that'll describe those senses. A beating heart is POUNDING and DEAFENING...
The feeling is your MOOD, establish this first ("I was angry"). Then use the descriptive WORDS to describe the SENSES.
The words that best describe how the author ironically portrays Mr. Symmes in this line are, "heathenish" and acting in a sort of "Christianized" manner. The word heathen describes a person who does not belong in any religious group. In short, he is called a pagan. But in this line, it was mentioned that Mr. Symmes was acting like a Christian, which makes this line ironic.
In Stephen Crane's naturalist story, 'The Open Boat' the repetition of the term "sacred cheese" invokes the idea of seeming powerless and caught in a trap.
