read the passage.

civil war medical care

why did the civil war become the bloodiest conflict in the history of the united states? the obvious reason is that, unlike foreign wars, the civil war generated american casualties on both sides. but a more upsetting reason is the enormous death toll not from battle, but from illness or infection that took hold in crude field hospitals. illness actually accounted for nearly two-thirds of the deaths in the civil war.

the deadliness of civil war hospitals was partly from the poor understanding of medicine at the time. germ theory was unknown, and antibiotics and even basic hand washing were not part of any doctor's tools at the time. however, the horrible death toll of the civil war must also be blamed on poor planning, poor organization, and poor care from military leaders. there was no excuse for this deadly neglect.

gradually conditions improved. william hammond, the surgeon general of the union army, created a new system of sanitary field care. in response to the crippling lack of information about patients' identities and medical histories, hammond demanded that hospitals keep complete medical records. clara barton, the founder of the american red cross, introduced a new professionalism in stocking, tracking, and distributing supplies; a new professionalism in cleanliness; above all, a new professionalism in making care of the wounded a priority for military leaders. these pioneers began a new era of military medical care.

how does this passage use parallelism to advance the author's purpose?

it repeats the word "poor" to emphasize the many ways military leaders failed to care for wounded soldiers.

it compares two innovators in military medical care to show that more than one strategy was used.

it compares conditions before and after barton and hammond improved medical care to show the improvement.

the repeated pattern of "obvious reason" and "more upsetting reason" in the first paragraph announces the author's expertise.