Cynic: A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. –The Devil's Dictionary

Ambrose Bierce

A blackguard is a rude or corrupt person. Based on Bierce's definition of a cynic, in which literary category would the writings of cynics most likely be placed?

The writings of Cynic would be categorised as Antithetical.

Explanation:

This refers to a literary device where one with a faulty vision sees things as they are and not as they appear.

Interestingly, a blackguard is one who is rude or corrupt.

An antithesis simply means the opposite ideas placed side by side.

Cheers!

the sentence that best describes the tone of the passage from the radio broadcast compared to the passage from the book is b. the radio broadcast has a more surprised tone.

consider the text evidence: in the passage from the book, the description is more matter-of-fact. it is simply describing the things resembling little grey snakes, but there is no urgency in the description. on the other hand, in the passage from the radio broadcast, there is definetely urgency (you can tell from the expression used, "good heavens", which clearly indicates surprise.)

the answer is:

when will (v) the books (n) be (v) due?

nouns refer to people (other than pronouns), places and things, whereas verbs describe actions and are usually part of the predicate of a sentence. finally, pronouns can work as nouns and identify the participants in speech.

in the example sentence, "will" is a verb part or auxiliary verb, "be" is an infinitive verb and "books" is a plural noun.