Parallelism (grammar)

Parallelism (grammar)
In grammar, parallelism, also known as parallel structure or parallel construction, is a balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure.[1] The application of parallelism improves writing style and readability, and is thought to make sentences easier to process.[2] Parallelism is often achieved using antithesis, anaphora, asyndeton, climax, epistrophe, and symploce.[3]

Examples
Compare the following examples: Lacking parallelism: She likes cooking, jogging, and to read. Parallel: She likes cooking, jogging, and reading. In the above example, the first sentence has two gerunds and one infinitive. To make it parallel, the sentence was rewritten with three gerunds instead. Lacking parallelism: The dog ran across the yard, jumped over the fence, and down the alley he sprinted. Parallel: The dog ran across the yard, jumped over the fence, and sprinted down the alley. Lacking parallelism: Mr. Killinger admires people with integrity and who have character. Parallel: Corey admires people with integrity and character. Parallel: Corey admires people who have integrity and character.

In rhetoric
Parallelism is often used as a rhetorical device. Examples: "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessing; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." Winston Churchill "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." John F. Kennedy[3] "...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address[3] "We have petitioned and our petitions have been scorned. We have entreated and our entreaties have been disregarded. We have begged and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer. We entreat no more. We petition no more. We defy them." William Jennings Bryan[3]

References
[1] Gary Blake and Robert W. Bly, The Elements of Technical Writing, pg. 71. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1993. ISBN 0020130856 [2] For the point about processing, see Carlson, Katy. Parallelism and Prosody in the Processing of Ellipsis Sentences. Routledge, 2002, pp. 46 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=lIJ7quEJl8gC& pg=PA4). [3] "Parallelism" (http:/ / www. americanrhetoric. com/ figures/ parallelism. htm), americanrhetoric.com.

External links
Faulty Parallelism (http://web.archive.org/web/20100704180457/http://www.nipissingu.ca/English/ HORNBOOK/faultpa.htm), Nipissing University

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Article Sources and Contributors

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