Question

Read the following passage from "Resistance to Civil Government" by Henry David Thoreau: Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way. How does Thoreau use a parallelism in this passage?
a.To emphasize the words "but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way"
b.To add the surprising revelation that the government gets in the way of progress
c.To draw attention to what the American people do that the government doesn't
d.To compare the government to an obstacle, such as a tall mountain or river

Answer 1

It's c, i'm on apex apex

Answer 2

c.To draw attention to what the American people do that the government doesn't

Parallelism is the repetition of a specific sentence or grammatical structure. In this passage, the parallelism is "It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate." These are all things that the American people have done, but the government hasn't. Parallelism helps to emphasize this list and draw attention to it. By listing the items in the negative, it further show that the government did not do these things.