Counter argument rhetorical device history

What is the effect of narrator's word choice on the tone of this passage? the words "my heart shrank within itself" create a fearful tone. the words "better-omened" set a hopeful tone. the words "wounded his fellow" develop a remorseful tone. the words "struck harsh upon my ears" suggest an irritated tone.

He leaned his head against the wall; his eyes were shut, his hands clasped in each other, and his body seemed to be sustained in an upright position merely by the cellar-door against which he rested his left shoulder. the lethargy into which he was sunk seemed scarcely interrupted by my feeling his hand and his forehead. his throbbing temples and burning skin indicated a fever . . there was only one circumstance that hindered me from forming an immediate determination in what manner this person should be treated. my family consisted of my wife and a young child. our servant-maid had been seized, three days before, by the reigning malady, and, at her own request, had been conveyed to the hospital. we ourselves enjoyed good health, and were hopeful of escaping with our lives. our measures for this end had been cautiously taken and carefully adhered to. they did not consist in avoiding the receptacles of infection, for my office required me to go daily into the midst of them; nor in filling the house with the exhalations of gunpowder, vinegar, or tar. they consisted in cleanliness, reasonable exercise, and wholesome diet. who is the story’s first-person narrator

Read this excerpt from through the looking-glass by lewis carroll. "you might make a joke on that,” said the little voice close to her ear: "something about ‘you would if you could,’ you know.” "don't tease so,” said alice, looking about in vain to see where the voice came from; "if you're so anxious to have a joke made, why don't you make one yourself? ” the little voice sighed deeply: it was very unhappy, evidently, and alice would have said something pitying to comfort it, "if it would only sigh like other people! ” she thought. but this was such a wonderfully small sigh, that she wouldn't have heard it at all, if it hadn't come quite close to her ear. the consequence of this was that it tickled her ear very much, and quite took off her thoughts from the unhappiness of the poor little creature. what question should a reader ask to clarify what is happening in the story? who or what is the voice speaking to alice? when will alice attempt to share a joke? what secret will alice share with the new character? why do whispers tickle the listener?