Question

read the excerpt from president ronald reagans speech on the night before the 1980 presidential election. and many americans today, just as they did 200 years ago, feel burdened, stifled and sometimes even oppressed by government that has grown too large, too bureaucratic, too wasteful, too unresponsive, too uncaring about people and their problems. which statement best describes the rhetorical technique used in this excerpt? he appeals to logos by referring to two hundred years ago. he uses parallelism with the repetition of the word too. he appeals to ethos by showing he cares about americans. he employs understatement by saying that many feel burdened.

Explanation:

• Logos appeal uses logic/facts; the 200-year reference here is a vague parallel, not logical evidence, so this is incorrect.
• Parallelism is a rhetorical technique using repeated grammatical structures. The excerpt uses the repeated word "too" in the sequence "too large, too bureaucratic, too wasteful, too unresponsive, too uncaring", which fits this definition perfectly.
• Ethos appeal focuses on establishing the speaker's credibility/character; the excerpt does not center on Reagan's credibility, so this is incorrect.
• Understatement minimizes a situation; "many" does not downplay the burden described, so this is incorrect.

Answer:

He uses parallelism with the repetition of the word too.