Question

Read the excerpt from "Rhobert” in Cane.

Rhobert is an upright man whose legs are banty-bowed and shaky because as a child he had rickets. The earth is round. Heaven is a sphere that surrounds it. Sink where you will. God is a Red Cross man with a dredge and a respiration pump who’s waiting for you to die at the opposite periphery. God built the house. He blew His breath into its stuffing. It is good to die obeying Him who can do these things.

How does Toomer best create an authoritative tone in this excerpt?

by using brief sentences to convey key points
by comparing God to a Red Cross man
by capitalizing words in the middle of sentences
by repeating the actions that God has taken

Answer 1

by using brief sentences to convey key points

The short, declarative lines ("The earth is round. Heaven is a sphere... Sink where you will.") deliver facts and commands with certainty and little room for dispute, producing an authoritative voice.