Parallelism is recurrent syntactical similarity Several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal in importance ID: 693628
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Slide1
parallelism
Syntactical symmetrySlide2
Parallelism
is recurrent syntactical similarity
.
Several
parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal in importance.
Parallelism
also adds
balance
and
rhythm
and, most importantly,
clarity
to the sentence. Slide3
Parallelism- so many options
Any sentence elements can be paralleled, any number of times (though, of course, excess quickly becomes ridiculous). Slide4
parallel
subjects with parallel modifiers
attached to them:
Ferocious dragons breathing fire and wicked sorcerers casting spells do their harm by night in the forest of Darkness. Slide5
parallel
verbs and adverbs
:
I
have always sought but seldom obtained a parking space near the door.
Quickly and happily he walked around the corner to buy the book. Slide6
parallel verbs and direct objects
:
He liked to eat watermelon and to avoid grapefruit. Slide7
just the objects
:
This
wealthy car collector owns
three pastel
Cadillacs
,
two gold Rolls
Royces
, and
ten assorted
Mercedes
.Slide8
parallel prepositional phrases
:
He
found it difficult to vote
for
an ideal truth but
against
his own self interest.
The pilot walked
down
the aisle,
through
the door, and
into
the cockpit, singing "I’m leaving, on a jet plane." Slide9
paralleling rather long subordinate
clauses helps hold the sentence clearly in your head
These critics-
-who point
out the beauties of style and ideas,
who discover
the faults of false constructions,
and who discuss
the application of the rules--usually help a lot in engendering an understanding of the writer's essay.
When,
at the conclusion of a prolonged episode of agonizing thought, you decide to buy this car;
when,
after a hundred frantic sessions of begging stone faced bankers for the money, you can obtain sufficient funds; and
when
, after two more years of impatience and frustration, you finally get a driver's license
, then
come see me and we will talk about a deal. Slide10
parallel participle, infinitive, and gerund
phrases:
He left the engine on,
idling erratically
and
heating rapidly
.
To think
accurately and
to write
precisely are interrelated goals.
She liked
sneaking up to Tim
and
putting ice down his back
, because he was so cool about it. Slide11
The parallelism
, while it normally should be pretty close, does not have to be exact in its syntactical similarity.
He ran up to the bookshelves, grabbed a chair standing nearby, stepped painfully on his tiptoes, and pulled the fifty-pound volume on top of him, crushing his ribs and impressing him with the power of knowledge. Slide12
Identify the parallel structure in the sentence below:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
(
The Declaration of Independence
, 1776)Slide13
Identify the parallel structure in the sentence below:
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
(Abraham Lincoln,
Second Inaugural Address
, 1865)Slide14
Identify the parallel structure in the sentence below:
"This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive, and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
(Franklin D. Roosevelt,
First Inaugural Address
)Slide15
Rewrite the following examples so they show better parallel structure.
"I require three things in a man. He must be handsome, ruthless to others, and show stupidity." (Dorothy Parker
)
"You are talking to a man who has laughed at death, sneers while in doom, and is chuckling during catastrophe."
(The Wizard in
The Wizard of Oz
, 1939
)
"Tell me and I might forget. If you teach me I remember. Involve me and I can learn." (Benjamin Franklin
)
"Be sincere, use brevity, sit."
(Franklin D. Roosevelt's advice to speakers
)
"Eye it, test it out, make the purchase."
(Slogan for Chevrolet, 1940s)
Slide16
Here’s a few more:
"What a time we had: splashed through bogs, ate as if we were pigs, and then we slept like logs."
(
Holling
Vincoeur
,
Northern Exposure
)
"The key to Springfield has always been Elm Street. The Greeks knew it. The Carthaginians also understood it. Now you are aware too." (Herman, "Bart the General,"
The Simpsons
)
"I think we've all arrived at a very special place. As spiritual beings, ecumenically, and in grammar."
(Jack Sparrow,
Pirates of the Caribbean
)Slide17
Check your work
"I require three things in a man. He must be handsome, ruthless, and stupid." (Dorothy Parker)
"You are talking to a man who has laughed at death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe."
(The Wizard in
The Wizard of Oz
, 1939)
"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." (Benjamin Franklin)
"Be sincere, be brief, be seated."
(Franklin D. Roosevelt's advice to speakers)
"Eye it, try it, buy it."
(Slogan for Chevrolet, 1940s)
"What a time we had: splashed through bogs, ate like hogs, slept like logs."
(
Holling
Vincoeur
,
Northern Exposure
)
"The key to Springfield has always been Elm Street. The Greeks knew it. The Carthaginians knew it. Now you know it."
(Herman, "Bart the General,"
The Simpsons
)
"I think we've all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically."
(Jack Sparrow,
Pirates of the Caribbean
)Slide18
Advanced Forms of Parallelism
Anaphora: repetition of the same word group or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses
Example:
“We shall go to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight in the seas and oceans…” Winston ChurchillSlide19
Asyndeton
Deliberate omission of conjunctions in a series of related clauses
Example: “Speed up the film,
Montag
! Quick! Click! Pop! Look! Eye! Now!....”- Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit
451Slide20
Antimetabole
A sentence strategy (a form of chiasmus) in which the arrangement of ideas in the second clause is a reversal of the first. The same words are used BUT in reversed order.
T
he
direct object of the subject is reversed
. This is not the case in chiasmus.
(More on this later)
Example: “We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us.” –
Malcom
XSlide21
More on antimebtabole
The same words are used but in reverse order
Example: “Ask not what you can do for your country but what your country can do for you.”
Often contains two independent clauses
Example: “
Starkist
doesn't want
tuna with a good taste, it wants tuna to taste good.”
The meaning of words does not change
Example: “I mean what I said and I said what I mean.” Slide22
Polysyndeton
Deliberate use of many conjunctions for special emphasis- to highlight quantity or mass of detail or to create a flowing, continuous sentence pattern.
Example: “He pulled the blue plastic tarp off him
and
folded it
and
carried it out to the grocery cart
and
packed it and came back.” Cormac McCarthy
The RoadSlide23
Stichomythia
Dialogue in which the endings and beginnings of each line echo each other, taking on a new meaning with each new line
Example:
QUEEN: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
HAMLET: Mother, you have my father much offended.
QUEEN: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
HAMLET: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.Slide24
Zeugma
The use of a verb that has two different meanings with objects that complement both meanings.
Example: She
lost
her temper and her keys. Slide25
Antithesis
The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words, phrases, grammatical structure or ideas.
Example: Love is an ideal thing, marriage is a real thing. Slide26
Chiasmus
The order of modifiers, terms or simply sentence structure in the first half of a parallel clause is reversed in the second.
Example: “In the end the true test is not the speeches a president delivers, it’s whether the president delivers on the speeches.”
-Hillary
ClintonSlide27
More on Chiasmus
Order of words is reversed for literary effect
Example: A mind is a terrible thing to waste but a waist is a terrible thing to mind.
Can be implied
Example: “Times are fun when you’re having flies.”-Kermit the Frog
Changes the sound and structure of words
Example: I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.Slide28
Isocolon
Parallel structure in which the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure but also in length.
Example: “I’m a Pepper, she’s a Pepper, we’re a Pepper. Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper too? – Dr. Pepper commercial circa 1980 somethingSlide29
Ephanalepsis
Repeats the beginning word of a clause or sentence at the end. The beginning and end are two positions of strongest emphasis, so special attention is called by having the same word in both places.
Example: “The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink, the man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking.” Jack Sparrow
Pirates of the CaribbeanSlide30
Practice: Identify the type of parallelism in each sentence.
1. From
The Bible
: “Many are called, but few are chosen.”
2. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. (Winston Churchill).
3. “
To err is human, to forgive divine” – Alexander Pope
4
. “He thinks I am a fool. A fool, perhaps I am”Slide31
And a few more….
5. Hamlet: Now mother, what’s the matter?
Queen: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
Hamlet: Mother, you have my father much offended
Queen: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue
Hamlet:
Go, go you question with a wicked tongue.
6. “He stole both her car and her heart that fateful night.”
7
. “The meal was huge: my mother fixed okra and green beans and ham and apple pie and green pickled tomatoes and ambrosia salad and all manner of fine country food—but no matter how I tried, I could not consume it to her satisfaction.”Slide32
Wait, we’re not done!
8. “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” (JFK)
9. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” (Julius Caesar)
10. To report that your committee is still investigating the matter is to tell me that you have nothing to report.