Astronomers these days can do the most amazing things. if someone struck a match on the moon, they could spot the flare. from the tiniest throbs and wobbles of distant stars they can infer the size and character and even potential habitability of planets much too remote to be seen—planets so distant that it would take us half a million years in a spaceship to get there. with their radio telescopes they can capture wisps of radiation so preposterously faint that the total amount of energy collected from outside the solar system by all of them together since collecting began (in 1951) is “less than the energy of a single snowflake striking the ground,” in the words of carl sagan. source: bryson, bill. “welcome to the solar system.” a short history of nearly everything. new york: broadway, 2003. 19. print. what is the author’s main purpose in this excerpt?

The main purpose of the author in this excerpt is to instruct, or to teach, his audience about a particular subject. In this case, the subject is that of astronomy. The author wants to educate the audience on all the amazing things that astronomers can do. Therefore, he summarizes many of the most incredible findings of astronomers in recent years in order to educate the audience on the importance and capabilities of modern astronomers.

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)

the use supports it by making it seem like the dictators are not bad to the people when the truly are.