Question

read the excerpt from \a quilt of a country.\ the new york of my children is no more balkanized, probably less so, than the philadelphia of my father, in which jewish boys would walk several blocks out of their way to avoid the irish divide of chester avenue. (i was the product of a mixed marriage, across barely bridgeable lines: an italian girl, an irish boy. how quaint it seems now, how incendiary then.) the brooklyn of francie nolans famous tree, the newark of which portnoy complained, even the uninflected wasp suburbs of cheevers characters: they are ghettos, pure and simple. do the cambodians and the mexicans in california coexist less easily today than did the irish and italians of massachusetts a century ago? you know the answer. what technique does quindlen use to support the idea that america is less polarized now than it was in past history? facts and statistics neutral language quotations from other people vivid imagery

Explanation:

The excerpt compares past - present ethnic divides in different American cities. There are no facts/statistics, neutral language isn't the main technique, and no quotations from others. Vivid imagery is used to describe the polarized past (e.g., Jewish boys avoiding an Irish - divided street).

Answer:

vivid imagery