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Parallelism

Parallelism. Another aspect of syntax!. Parallel structure appeals. The human eyes and ears favor balance and harmony. We tend to like things that match!. Parallelism in writing. Parallel structure balances Words with words Phrases with phrases Clauses with clauses. Parallel structure.

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Parallelism

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  1. Parallelism Another aspect of syntax!

  2. Parallel structure appeals The human eyes and ears favor balance and harmony. We tend to like things that match!

  3. Parallelism in writing Parallel structure balances • Words with words • Phrases with phrases • Clauses with clauses

  4. Parallel structure • Parallelism is a similarity of grammatical form between two or more elements. The air is dirtied by factories belching smoke and cars spewing exhaust. • This structure reinforces and highlights a close relation between compound sentence parts: words, phrases or clauses.

  5. Examples of parallelism • “…a new generation of Americans born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of their ancient heritage…”(Kennedy) • “Robert E. Lee was a foe without hate, a friend without treachery, a soldier without cruelty” (Canton) • “God have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. White man have mercy upon us” (Paton 89).

  6. Balanced sentences—a type of parallelism • When a parallel sentence combines contrasting ideas Examples: • “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” (John Kennedy). • “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” (Dickens).

  7. Let’s think about parallelism and its effect: “It was permissible when we discovered gold to bring labour to the mines. It was permissible to build compounds and to keep women and children away from towns. It was permissible as an experiment, in the light of what we knew. But in the light of what we now know, it is no longer permissible. It is not permissible for us to go on destroying family life when we know we are destroying it.

  8. Remember, syntax means • Sentence lengths • Sentence types (loose, periodic, imperative, exclamatory, etc. ) • Sentence placement within a paragraph • Sentence structure: simple, compound, etc. • Sentence structure: parallelism, balance

  9. Remembering all that syntax implies, what can we see here? “Call oh small boy, with the tremulous cry that echoes over the hills. Dance oh small boy with the small steps of the dance that is for yourself…Strange things will be woven into it, by men you have never heard of in places you’ve never seen. It is a life you are going into, you are not afraid because you do not know. Call and dance, call and dance. Now, while you may.”

  10. Your Friday “moment of Zen” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR_UYx4vSPs&feature=share

  11. Here’s a cool example: The cunning and attractive slave women disguise their strength as womanly weakness, their audacity as womanly timidity, their unscrupulousness as womanly innocence, their impurities as womanly defenselessness; simple men are duped by them and subtle ones disarmed and intimidated. It is only the proud, straightforward women who wish, not to govern, but to be free. Bernard Shaw

  12. Let’s Analyze!! • Identify the subject and predicate in this first independent clause. • The phrases that follow the subject and predicate function as what part of the sentence? Any ideas? The cunning and attractive slave women disguise their strength as womanly weakness, their audacity as womanly timidity, their unscrupulousness as womanly innocence, their impurities as womanly defenselessness;

  13. Remember, repeated grammatical structures create parallelism SUBJECT/PREDICATEDIRECT OBJECT PHRASES WOMEN/DISGUISE: their strength as womanly weakness their audacity as womanly timidity their unscrupulousness as womanly innocence their impurity as womanly defenselessness

  14. The parallelism doesn’t end there! Simple men are duped by them, and subtle ones disarmed and intimidated. Simple menare duped by them Subtle ones[are] disarmed [by them] intimidated [by them]

  15. The independent clauses are parallel in another way too! The verb in 1st clause: slave women disguise The verbs in the 2nd clause: men are duped, are disarmed, are intimidated Disguise active voice Are duped… passive voice

  16. SO WHAT??? Strong, aggressive women are balanced with passive men… What does the balanced structure suggest?

  17. And finally, the second sentence: It is only the proud, straightforward women who wish, not to govern, but to be free. Diagram it!

  18. Did you get it? not to govern …women who wish but to be free

  19. Compare the adjectives in the two sentences! Cunning and attractive slave women Proud, straightforward women How does Shaw suggest a difference and an inequality between these 2 types of women? Hint: think about punctuation

  20. Reflection • The analysis of just two sentences suggests the concentration and range of effects a writer can create by using parallel structures. • Parallelism compares and contrasts, affirms and negates. Wait, did I just use parallelism???

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