Question

Read the excerpt from Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech.

In Europe, only one nation and those it controls refuse to join the community of freedom. Yet in this age of redoubled economic growth, of information and innovation, the Soviet Union faces a choice: It must make fundamental changes, or it will become obsolete. Today thus represents a moment of hope. We in the West stand ready to cooperate with the East to promote true openness, to break down barriers that separate people, to create a safer, freer world.

Which rhetorical technique does this paragraph demonstrate?

ad hominem
false dilemma
hasty generalization
bandwagon appeal

Answer 1

False dilemma.

The passage frames the Soviet Union as having only two possible outcomes — "make fundamental changes, or it will become obsolete" — which presents a limited either/or choice and ignores other possible outcomes. This fits the false dilemma fallacy rather than ad hominem, hasty generalization, or a bandwagon appeal.