assume/strike an attitude

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to give me your considered opinion concerning the interpretation of the expressions in bold in the following sentences?

He told us to give attention. Then he strikes a most horrible attitude, with one leg shoved forwards, and his arms stretched away up, and his head tilted back, looking up at the sky. (M. Twain, “Huckleberry Finn”)

Often…I would see her pacing up and down her little garden, followed by her yellow cat Micado, and stopping to strike an attitude and recite something out loud. (A. J. Cronin, “The Green Years”)

assume/strike an attitude = assume a pose

Mary’s attitude was one of frank admission and penitence.

attitude = manner of thinking, mentality

Usually I assumed an attitude of defiance towards all authority.

I didn’t like his attitude that he deserves special treatment.

attitude = standpoint, point of view, position

V.

[Bennevis]

I like the expression "to strike an attitude". Even wrote it out in my commonplace book. A source defines it as
formal
to hold your body in a way which suggests a particular quality or feeling.
He struck an attitude of offended dignity and marched out of the room.

Definition of strike an attitude from Cambridge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus