"overall, the author would have been very successful at achieving his purpose if you were even slightly versed on the topic. unfortunately, i have no background in this topic, and i found the essay way too overwhelming to read." the tone of the passage above can be described as: a) detached b) defiant c) critical d) instructive

C) Critical.

Explanation: The tone of a text or sentence is the author's or speaker's attitude towards the audience, the subject or even the characters of the text. There are many different kinds of tones, like: positive, negative, objective, sad, angry, etc. From the given options, the word that best describes the tone of the passage, is the corresponding to option C: critical, because the speaker is criticizing the essay by saying that it is "to overwhelming to read."

c. barbarians with unexpected intelligence  

dickinson punctuation and lines in her poems to establish a rhythm. each reader will naturally find themselves reading the poem in the same way. she uses the repeating question marks and exclamation points to convey the passion in her words. shelley uses punctuation to paint a picture in the reader's mind. for example, the ellipses after "stand in the dessert" evoke a silence, as it would feel in a deserted, old place.