It could be a metaphor since you are comparing them to reptiles without using like or as.
<span>The excerpt claims that Johnson’s work is significant because he searched literature and found more words.
The excerpt says how at the time there weren't enough dictionaries, or rather there weren't enough words in those dictionaries. This is why Johnson took it upon himself to scroll through countless books in search of new words, which he later added into his dictionary, published in 1755.
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Short sentences would create a fast pace
It had little to do with slavery or race. The only time when it showed abolitionism is near the end of the story, everything else is mainly about women and their roles in society.