Read the excerpt from president ronald reagan’s speech on the night before the 1980 presidential election. i know that tonight the fate of america’s 52 hostages is very much on the minds of all of us. like you, there is nothing i want more than their safe return—that they be reunited with their families after this long year of imprisonment. when they have returned, all of us will be turning to the concerns that will determine the course of america in the next four years. a child born this year will begin his or her adult life in what will be the 21st century. what kind of country, what kind of legacy will we leave to these young men and women who will live out america’s third century as a nation? which techniques does president reagan use in this excerpt? select three options. pathos ethos shift understatement overstatement

In the excerpt from President Ronald Reagan's speech on the night before the 1980 presidential election, the three techniques that President Reagan uses in are: pathos, shift and overstatement. The use of pathos in a speech is an appeal to an emotional response. A rhetorical shift is a change in a speaker's style, tone or focus. An overstatement is an intentional exaggeration to create a strong sensations and provoke strong feelings.

The correct answer to which techniques President Reagan uses in this excerpt of his speech, selecting three from the given options, is Pathos, Shift and Overstatement.

Pathos is a technique in which the power of a situation described can cause pity or sadness because people feel sympathy. In this excerpt from Reagan's speech, he mentions America's 52 hostages and their fate in order to move people and cause sadness and sympathy in them. "(...) that they are reunited with their families after this long year of imprisonment", he says, trying to provoke people's emotions, by making them identify and pity the hostages, and therefore creating a pathos effect.

Shift is a narrative technique in which the speaker shifts time back and forth, from past to present and from present to future. During his speech, Reagan shifts from present to future. He talks about something that is happening now (America's 52 hostages) and about the concerns America has to debate now, that will make a difference in the future. He says that "A child born this year will begin his or her adult like in what will be the 21st century", therefore he shifts from present to future by using tenses in the present and in the future in the same sentence, and presenting his time's reality compared to the future's possible reality.

Overstatement, or hyperbole, is a technique used to emphasize something by stating it too strongly or with exaggeration. In this excerpt of Reagan's speech, the overstatement can be observed when he talks about the hostages and says that "Like you, there is nothing I want more than their safe return", hence, Reagan uses exaggeration techniques to prove his point.

Reagan doesn't use Ethos technique in this excerpt because there is no moment in which he exalts America's characteristics or spirit, nor anything that specifies beliefs common to an era in order to strengthen his speech. Also, he doesn't use the Understatement technique because, on the contrary, he uses the Overstatement technique.

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pirate: arrgh! it's drivin' me nuts!