I'd say that the aspect of culture that this excerpt from "What For" by Garrett Hongo celebrates is A. holidays.
It is customary in some countries to spend holidays with family talking about past times, and reminiscing.
The persuasive technique that is being used here is name-calling.
This means that this cereal company is using, usually fake news and no evidence to say bad things about the rival company, disregarding whether it is actually true or not. People will see this cereal ad and believe it, regardless of whether there are any evidence to prove the claims.
Croissant is a borrowed word. It came from the English language as "crescent" and was translated to "croissant" by the French.
To entertain, since this passage is entirely fictional and is not trying to convince you to do something or educate you.
A, The river is constantly changing. I did this last year so I know what the answer is. Fickle means changing frequently or in my term, stubborn. In his point of view, the river has a mind of its own and changes often. Which he described as "fickle." It may be hard for Twain to pilot a steamboat, if the river is constantly changing.