Question

analyzing rhetorical devices
passage 1 passage 2
why would you limit something that helps students succeed? social media sites help students do better at school. students report that they use social media to discuss educational topics and talk about school assignments. after the university of the scholars introduced a social media program to engage students, teachers reported a noticeable improvement in grades.
how does the author of passage 2 use rhetorical devices?
the writer uses allusion to reference another event where social media was detrimental.
the writer uses overstatement to exaggerate the harm that social media causes.
the writer uses parallelism to list the harm done by social media.
the writer uses understatement to make the proposed benefits of social media seem comical.

Explanation:

The passage emphasizes the positive aspects of social - media for students, like discussing educational topics and grade improvement after a social - media program. There is no mention of harm caused by social media as in options B and C. There is no understatement making benefits seem comical as in option D. The passage doesn't reference another event where social media was detrimental, so no allusion as in option A. However, considering the question asks about rhetorical devices in passage 2 and based on the content provided (assuming passage 2 is the text in the box), none of the options accurately describe the rhetorical devices used. But if we analyze the content in isolation, it doesn't use overstatement, parallelism for harm, or understatement for benefits. If we assume the closest, there is no allusion either, but if we had to pick, the passage doesn't do what the other options suggest, so we analyze based on the positive - spin of social media and lack of the actions described in other options.

Answer:

None of the above options accurately describe the rhetorical devices used in the given passage.