Which identifies the purpose served by historical anecdotes in james baldwin's "for want of a horseshoe nail" and robert e. lee's "letter to his son"?
a. they answer common questions that readers have.
b. they illustrate each pieces main idea.
c. they serve as emotional appeals.

Im sorry but the answer is actually B In Letter to his son it says You must study to be frank with the world. Frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do, on every occasion, and take it for granted that you mean to do right. If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot; you would wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind. In for want of a horseshoe nail the groom needs 4 horseshoes for his king because they are being attacked.The blacksmith doesn't have the iron to do it but the groom commands him to do it anyway. so he makes 4 horseshoes with the iron he has he puts nails into the horseshoe but he runs out of nails on the last hoof. The groom doesn't care and he says to just put on the last one with the nails he has. This leads to failure when in battle the kings horses horseshoe falls off and the horse falls and then runs away. This is showing b because they both are illustrating to not do something wrong even if the other person is foolish. HOPE I HELPED

"to gaurd against " is correct answer