Parallelism: Avoiding Faulty Parallelism

1. Parallelism: Avoiding Faulty Parallelism Faulty parallelism usually results when you join nonmatching grammatical forms.

2. Parallelism with Coordinating Conjunctions • The coordinating conjunctions are and, but, for, or, nor, yet, and so. • To avoid faulty parallelism, write the words that accompany coordinating conjunctions in matching grammatical forms.

3. Example • NO: Love and being married go together. • YES: Love and marriage go together. • YES: Being in love and being married go together.

4. Parallelism with Correlative Conjunctions • Correlative conjunctions are paired words such as not only…but (also), either…or, and both…and. • To avoid faulty parallelism, write the words joined by correlative conjunctions in matching grammatical forms.

5. Example • NO: Differing expectations for marriagenot only can lead to disappointment but also makes the couple angry. • YES: Differing expectations for marriagenot only can lead to disappointment but also can make the couple angry.

6. Parallelism with Than and As • To avoid faulty parallelism when you use than and asfor comparisons, write the elements of comparison in matching grammatical forms.

7. Example • NO: Having a solid marriage can be more satisfyingthan the acquisition of wealth. • YES: Having a solid marriage can be more satisfyingthan acquiring wealth. • YES: A solid marriage can be more satisfying than wealth.

8. Effectively Integrating Sources into Your Writing Blending information and ideas from others with your own writing

9. Integrating Sources • Before trying to integrate sources into your writing, you need to have analyzed and then synthesized the material. • Analysis requires you to break ideas down into their component parts so that you can think them through separately. • The best time to do this is while you’re reading your sources and taking content notes.

10. Integrating Sources • Synthesis requires you to make connections among different ideas, seeking relationships and connections that tie them together.

11. Using Quotations Effectively Quotation--the exact words of a source enclosed in quotation marks

12. Quotations • Although quotations provide support, you can lose coherence in your paper if you use too many quotations. • If more than a quarter of your paper consists of quotations, you’ve probably written what some people call a “cut and paste special”--merely stringing together a bunch of quotations. • Doing so gives your readers--including teachers--the impression that you’ve not bothered to develop your own thinking, and you’re letting other people do your talking.

13. Quotations • Avoid using quotations that are too long. • Readers tend to skip over long quotations and lose the drift of the paper. • Your teacher might assume that you just didn’t take the time to paraphrase of summarize. • If you do need to quote a long passage, make absolutely sure every word in the quotation counts.

14. Guidelines for Using Quotations • Use quotations from authorities on your subject to support or refute what you write in your paper. • Never use a quotation to present your thesis statement or topic sentences.

15. Guidelines for Using Quotations Select quotations that fit your message. Choose a quotation only in these cases: • Its language is particularly appropriate or distinctive. • Its idea is particularly hard to paraphrase accurately. • The authority of the source is especially important to support your thesis or main point. • The source’s words are open to interpretation.

16. Guidelines for Using Quotations • Never use quotations in more than a quarter of your paper. Instead, rely on paraphrase and summary. • Quote accurately. Always check each quotation against the original source--and then recheck it. • Integrate quotations smoothly into your writing. • Avoid plagiarism. • Enter all documentation precisely and carefully.