What is one way to check the reliability of an author?

read all of his or her published work(s)
research the author
call the author personally
see if s/he has a blog

Read the excerpt from “the railroad earth.” o well anyway i'll be learning eventually to like the railroad and sherman will like me some day, and anyway another day another dollar. the narrator of this excerpt can best be described as friendly.optimistic.wealthy.intelligent.

Brutus: but as he was ambitious, i slew him. . who is here so base that would be a bondman? if any, speak, for him have i offended. who is here so rude that would not be a roman? if any, speak, for him have i offended. who is here so vile that will not love his country? if any, speak, for him have i offended. i pause for a reply. which rhetorical device does brutus use in this excerpt?

Read the first stanza of wallace stevens's 'the anecdote of the jar' below: i placed a jar in tennessee, and round it was, upon a hill. it made the slovenly wilderness surround that hill. which of these is the best paraphrase of the stanza? o a. when i placed a jar outside in tennessee, it seemed to dominate all of nature. o b. the round jar i put on a hill looked strange amidst the wildness of nature o c. i put a round jar on a hill in tennessee, and the jar made the wilderness surround it. o d. i placed a jar on a round, wilderness-covered hill in tennessee.