Question

Read the excerpt from President Ronald Reagan’s 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

Answer 1

He uses parallelism (anaphora) with the repeated phrase "too" — a series of similarly structured clauses ("too large, too bureaucratic, too wasteful...") for rhetorical emphasis.