The correct answer is D) logos and pathos.
<em>The purpose of the comparison is to appeal to reader logos and pathos</em>.
To convince audiences, there are three modes of persuasión: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher, considered those elements during an argument to convince the audiences.
In the case of the text, Muir appeals to the reader logos and pathos, which mean, using logos to appeal to the logic or the reason of the reader. And then, using pathos, or the emotion of the reader.
When John Muir compares a Calaveras trees with George Washington in the essay “Save the Redwoods” , he is appealing to the logos and pathos when he writes <em>“No doubt these trees would make good lumber after passing through a sawmill as George Washington after passing through the hands of a French Cook would have made good food."</em>