General Clinton, concerned about what General Howe was planning and doing, made use of a mask to write a secret message in a letter to General Burgoyne. Before writing the letter, Clinton had placed an hourglass-shaped mask on a piece of paper and then had formed the secret message within that shape.

The unmasked letter had enough false information in it to fool any American who happened to see it. But when Burgoyne viewed the letter with the mask, he read Clinton's view of the real situation: Howe has made a bad move; I don't have enough men to do anything about it.

The author’s main purpose in this excerpt is to

describe a form of code writing using an example.
explain the mistakes of General Howe during the war.
entertain the reader with a humorous story of miscommunication.
argue that using a mask is the best method for sending secret messages.

The author’s main purpose in this excerpt is to describe a form of code writing using an example.

Explanation:

In the text in question, the author describes how General Clinton inserted a secret message in a text apparently unrelated to the information that he wanted to convey. That is, through a real situation, he exemplifies how a secret message could be introduced that changed the course of history.

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.

"the monkey's paw" is a rare story in that the theme is actually stated in the story. sgt. maj. morris tells the whites that the old fakir who put the spell on the paw said, "fate rules people's lives and those who interfere with fate do so to their sorrow." the message is a warning, but mr. white doesn't believe it. even though sgt. maj. morris makes it clear that he tried wishing with unfortunate results and he tries to throw the paw on the fire,   mr. white makes a wish for 200 pounds only to find that he receives the money when herbert dies in a factory accident. according to the fakir, then, because mr. white had wished for something he should not have had, his son lost his life.

the second wish that mrs. white encourages him to make is for herbert's return--one week after his death. when the strange knocking begins at the door during the windy night, mr. white panicks, believing that the previously dead but still mangled herbert could have walked home from the cemetary and is now at the door. because he fears what his wife will find if she opens the door, mr. white makes his third wish--for the noise to stop.

therefore, he uses his three wishes and to his sorrow, loses his son and disappoints his wife, who fervently believed that their son was at the door. she wanted him back, regardless of his condition.

explanation: