Read the passage from chapter 17 of The Prince.
<em>Among the wonderful deeds of Hannibal this one is enumerated: that having led an enormous army, composed of many various races of men, to fight in foreign lands, no dissensions arose either among them or against the prince, whether in his bad or in his good fortune. This arose from nothing else than his inhuman cruelty, which, with his boundless velour, made him revered and terrible in the sight of his soldiers, but without that cruelty, his other virtues were not sufficient to produce this effect. </em>
Question: How does the author’s diction affect the tone in this passage?
Options:
- Words like inhuman, cruelty, and terrible support a tone of fear.
- Words like wonderful, boundless, velour, revered, and virtues support a tone of admiration.
- Words like sufficient, enumerated, virtues, and dissensions support a critical tone.
- Words like dissensions, bad, inhuman, cruelty, and terrible support a tone of sorrow.
Answer: The correct answer is: <u>Words like wonderful, boundless, velour, revered, and virtues support a tone of admiration.</u>
Explanation: The author mentions that Hannibal had many wonderful deeds and one in particular was leading an enormous army with men of many races to fight in foreign lands and having no conflict occur either among them or against the prince and this was thanks to his cruelty. The author is applauding and recognizing Hannibal's leader skills and though he mentions that he was inhumanly cruel, he recognizes that without that, he wouldn't have been able to produce such effects.
