Parallelism

Not parallel:

Mike likes bowling, ice-skating, dancing, and to draw.

Not Parallel:Mike likes bowling, ice-skating, dancing, and to draw.

Parallel:Mike likes bowling, ice-skating,

dancing, and drawing.Mike likes to bowl, to ice-skate,

to dance, and to draw. Mike likes to bowl, ice-skate,

dance, and draw.

Parallel:

Mike likes bowling, ice-skating, dancing, and gerund gerund gerund

drawing.gerund

Not parallel:

Mike likes bowling, ice-skating, dancing, gerund gerund gerund

and to draw.

infinitive verb

Not parallel:

• She likes cake, movies, and talking on the phone.

Not Parallel: She likes cake, noun

movies, and talking on the phone. noun verb prep. noun

Not Parallel: She likes cake, movies,noun noun

and talking on the phone. verb noun

Parallel: She likes eating cake, watching verb noun verb

movies, and talking on the phone. noun verb noun

Not Parallel

The tragedy in “The Veldt” is caused by

the parents’ neglect, the children, and the adjective noun noun

ravaging lions.participle noun

Parallel

The psychologist, the children, and the noun noun

parents all play a role in the tragedy.noun

Not parallel:

• Dominic doesn’t have enough time to play soccer, join the debate team, and band.

• Correct this sentence so that it is parallel:

Parallel Subjects

The carefully trimmed trees in front carefully trimmed trees in front of the yardof the yard and the spectacularly spectacularly clean patio in the backclean patio in the back revealed the meticulous nature of the homeowner.

Parallel Subjects

The carefully trimmed trees in frontcarefully trimmed trees in front

adverb adjective noun compound preposition

of the yardof the yard and the spectacularly spectacularly noun / object of the preposition adverb

clean patio in the backclean patio in the back revealed the adjective noun preposition noun/ object of the preposition

meticulous nature of the homeowner.

Parallel Adverbs and Verbs

The agency had frequently frequently

adverb

receivedreceived but seldom revealedseldom revealed a

verb adverb verb

large number of crank calls.

Parallel Objects

The doctor carefully examined the heelthe heel, the anklethe ankle, and the toesthe toes.

Parallel Verbs and Objects

Mom went to Judy’s room and

gave her a drink, pulled up her

blanket, and kissed her forehead.

Parallel Verbs and Objects

Mom went to Judy’s room and

gave her a drink, pulled up her verbverb indirect object direct objectdirect object verbverb adverb pronoun as adjective

blanket, and kissed herdirect objectdirect object verbverb pronoun as adjective

forehead.direct objectdirect object

Parallel Prepositional Phrases

• The dropped apple floated down the river and under the bridge.

Parallelism of an Entire Sentence

The goal of a theoretical science is the truth, but the goal of a practical science is performance.

--Aristotle

Parallelism of Two Sentences

• After the first test, which used the rubber seal, the cylinder showed a ten-centimeter stain on the underside. After the second test, which used the new neoprone seal, the cylinder was completely unblemished underneath.

CHIASMUS CHIASMUS

Reverse parallelism.

Balanced elements are presented in reverse order.

Parallelism vs. Chiasmus

PARALLELISM

The code breakers worked constantly but succeeded rarely.

verb adverb verb adverb

CHIASMUS

The code breakers worked constantlyworked constantly but rarely succeededrarely succeeded. .

verb adverb adverb verb

Parallelism vs. Chiasmus

Parallelism

What is learned willingly is forgotten gladly. verb adverb verb adverb

Chiasmus

What is learned willingly is gladly forgotten.

verb adverb adverb verb

Antithesis

Contrasts Contrasts two ideas by placing them side by side in parallel

structure.

Antithesis

To create a contrast, statements of antithesis often use words like “but” or “yet.”

However, many statements of antithesis do not use “but” or “yet.”

Antithesis ContrastsContrasts two ideastwo ideas by placing them side by side by

sideside in parallel structure.

The first time man walked on the moon Neil Armstrong said:

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Antithesis

ContrastsContrasts two ideastwo ideas by placing them side by sideside by side in parallel structure.

“Success makes us proud; failure makes us wise.”

.

Antithesis

ContrastsContrasts two ideastwo ideas by placing them side by sideside by side in parallel structure.

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”--Alexander Pope

Antithesis

ContrastsContrasts two ideastwo ideas by placing them side by sideside by side in parallel structure.

Brutus states why he assassinated Julius Caesar:

“Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.”

Parallelism or Chiasmus?

1. The engine of the cruise ship was peacefully quiet; the plumbing was almost deafeningly loud.

2. To catch him on the phone required twenty phone calls, but an act of Congress would be needed to see him in person.

Parallelism or Chiasmus?

3. Across the river they could see their offices, while under the trees together they could feel their hearts.

4. When you speak, they will listen. They will act when you lead.

“The Broken Window theory tells us that, in order to reduce crime, arresting criminals is important, but painting over graffiti is crucial.”

This sentence contains

a. parallelism only.

b. antithesis only.

c. parallelism and antithesis.

d. neither parallelism nor antithesis.

Which one of the following does NOT contain antithesis?

A. She laughed while he fumed.

B. What we already have is reason; what we need now is imagination.

C. She cried and I cried.

Which elements in this sentence are parallel?

“To determine a reasonably profitable and competitively low price for a meal, some restaurants multiply the food cost of an item times four and charge that.”

A. to determine and restaurants multiplyB. reasonably profitable and competitively

lowC. food cost and an itemD. none of the above