Question

Read the passage from "The Crab That Played with the Sea.” "‘You are lazy,’ said the Eldest Magician. ‘So your children shall be lazy. They shall be the laziest people in the world. They shall be called the Malazy—the lazy people;’ and he held up his finger to the Moon and said, ‘O Fisherman, here is the Man too lazy to row home. Pull his canoe home with your line, Fisherman.’"
How does repetition affect the narrator's tone?

Answer 1

B) Repetition of the word lazy makes the tone humorous

"They shall be the laziest people in the world. They shall be called the Malazy-the lazy people" now isn't that funny.

Answer 2

A. Repetition of the word lazy makes the tone angry.

When repetition is used as a literary element, it is done so for the sake of emphasizing something.  When the word “lazy” is spoken by the Eldest Magician in the story, it is out of anger at that the man was complaining that he would have to row home without the help of the crab’s great wave.  It was this action—the laziness of the man—that angered the Eldest Magician.  As such, repetition of the word “lazy” makes the tone angry as it highlights what made the Eldest Magician angry.