The term "deafening silence" in an example of which literary device? irony foreshadowing oxymoron allusion

Changing the sentence structure and how quickly events unfold in a story can affect which literally element?

Precarious subsistence voracious abysmal wood is to fire as food is to arrowright grinning is to cheerful as teetering is to arrowright conniving is to scheming as terrible is to arrowright mournful is to sad as gluttonous is to arrowright

Read the passage. when mother’s fever persisted for a week, father summoned our family doctor. dr. blakemore applied leeches to mother’s skin in hopes of reducing the amount of blood in her body. despite the doctor’s efforts, she languished in bed for three more days before her appetite returned and she requested a thin broth. our dear cook, mrs. davis, prepared the broth and delivered it to my mother directly, eager to ease her discomfort. what can readers infer about the time period of the passage?