Maybe you could be a good writer—maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper—but you might not know it until you write a paper for your english class. maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor—maybe even good enough to come up with the next iphone or a new medicine or vaccine—but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class.

in this section of the speech, the purpose of the parallel structure is to obama

1: emphasize his belief in the importance of being able to write well.

2: explain his thoughts on the best classes to take for a good education.

3: prove his point by spelling out the options available with an education.

4: strengthen his argument that more scientists are needed in the workforce