In "perseverance," which theme is reflected in the lines, "life's field will yield as we make it / a harvest of thorns or of flowers"? a. accept what you are given, because you cannot change it. b. working together people to achieve their goals in life. c. life is a field in which flowers and thorns will grow. d. your life is the result of the work you put into it.

the sentence does not violate the phrase structure second rule (introduced by noam chomsky) because noun phrases consist of a determiner such as a, the or every, and a noun. in the sentence, the noun phrase the cake includes a determiner (the) and a noun (cake).

on the other hand, the first rule indicates that a sentence encloses a noun phrase, followed by a verb phrase. the example sentence can be analysed as follows:

john (n) + ate (v) + the (det) + cake (n).

the anecdote makes readers feel sorry for the man’s lack of heritage, then reminds readers that the man has an equally valuable heritage.