{"id":214,"date":"2016-08-08T21:02:02","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T21:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/styleguide\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=214"},"modified":"2023-07-31T18:52:29","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T18:52:29","slug":"parallel-structure","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/chapter\/parallel-structure\/","title":{"raw":"Parallel Structure","rendered":"Parallel Structure"},"content":{"raw":"Parallel structures are sequences of coordinated words, phrases, or clauses that are of the same grammatical structure. Parallel structure can be applied to a single sentence, a paragraph, or even multiple paragraphs. Compare the two following sentences:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Rural landlords wanted income from rent, to farm parts of their own estate, and being middlemen for agricultural trade.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Rural landlords wanted income from rent, from farming parts of their own estate, and from being middlemen for agricultural trade.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nMost people find the second sentence\u00a0easier to comprehend than the first because the second sentence uses parallelism\u2014the \"from\" launches three different forms of desired income, so that the reader easily understands that rent, farming, and being middlemen are all options. The first sentence is more confusing because the concepts don't line up grammatically: the first and third options (<em>rent<\/em> and <em>being middlemen<\/em>) have \"wanted income from\" as their root; the second time (<em>to farm parts<\/em>) has perhaps only \"wanted\" as its root. While the first sentence is technically okay, it's awkward and makes it easy to trip up over the mismatching items. Parallelism improves writing style and readability, and it makes sentences easier to process.\r\n\r\nCompare the following examples:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Lacking parallelism: \"She likes cooking, jogging, and <i>to read<\/i>.\"\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Parallel: \"She likes cooking, jogging, and reading.\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Parallel: \"She likes to cook, jog, and read.\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Lacking parallelism: \"He likes to swim and <i>running<\/i>.\"\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Parallel: \"He likes to swim and to run.\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Parallel: \"He likes swimming and running.\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nOnce again, the examples above\u00a0combine\u00a0gerunds (a noun formed by adding <em>-ing<\/em> to a verb) and infinitives (the form a verb takes when preceded by <em>to<\/em>). To make them parallel, the sentences should\u00a0be rewritten with just\u00a0gerunds or just\u00a0infinitives.\u00a0Note that the first nonparallel example, while inelegantly worded, is grammatically correct: \"cooking,\" \"jogging,\" and \"to read\" are all grammatically valid conclusions to \"She likes.\"\r\n\r\nParallelism can also apply to names. If you're writing a research paper that includes\u00a0references to several different authors, be consistent in your references. For example, if\u00a0you talk about Jane Goodall and Henry Harlow, you should say \"Goodall and Harlow,\" not \"Jane and Harlow\" or \"Goodall and Henry.\" This is something that would carry on through your entire paper: you should\u00a0use the same mode of address for\u00a0every person you mention.\r\n\r\nYou can also apply parallelism\u00a0across a passage:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Manuel painted eight paintings in the last week.\u00a0Jennifer sculpted five statues in the last month. Zama\u00a0wrote\u00a0fifteen\u00a0songs in the last two months.<\/p>\r\nEach of the sentences in the preceding paragraph has the same structure: Name +\u00a0<em>-ed<\/em> verb + number of things +\u00a0<em>in the<\/em>\u00a0past time period.\r\n\r\nHere's a more sophisticated example that's\u00a0useful, too, because it makes a move that often occurs in academic writing: elaborating on an initial claim. This example is adapted from Keith Wrightson's <em>English Society 1580-1680<\/em> (p. 134):\r\n<blockquote>Those best placed to prosper were the yeomanry, whether they were freeholders owning their own land or substantial tenants. If freeholders, they were immune from the rent increases of the period. If large tenants, they were commonly profiting from their farming enough to afford rent increases with comparative ease.<\/blockquote>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nDo\u00a0of the following sentences correctly employ parallelism? If not,\u00a0revise the sentences in the text frame below.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Kya is really good at\u00a0writing poems\u00a0and making\u00a0pottery.\u00a0Atswei is a good singer and a good dancer.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Don't forget to let the dog out or\u00a0to feed the cats.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>In this paper, we will reference the works of Walton and\u00a0Sir John Cockcroft.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Whenever he drives, Reza pays attention to what he's doing and is watching the drivers around him.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"456006\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"456006\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>No. While the both\u00a0sentences are internally parallel, they are not parallel with each other. Here are two possible revisions to improve parallelism:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Kya is really good at writing poems and making sculptures. Atswei is really\u00a0good at singing and dancing.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Kya is a\u00a0good poet and sculptor. Atswei is a good singer and a good dancer.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Yes. This sentence is parallel. The two phrases \"to let the dog out\" and \"to feed the cats\"\u00a0are both infinitives.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>No. While the sentence is grammatically correct, it is not parallel. The two following revisions are parallel versions of this sentence:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>In this paper, we will reference the works of Dr. Ernest Walton and Sir John Cockcroft.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>In this paper, we will reference the works of Walton and Cockcroft.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>No. While the sentence is grammatically correct, it is not parallel. The two following revisions are parallel versions of this sentence:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Whenever he drives, Reza pays attention to what he's doing and watches\u00a0the drivers around him.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Whenever he drives, Reza is paying\u00a0attention to what he's doing and is watching the drivers around him.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Parallelism and Repetition<\/h2>\r\nParallelism can also involve\u00a0repeated words\u00a0or\u00a0repeated phrases. Inexperienced writers often think that repetition should be avoided at all costs, probably because someone once warned them, usefully enough, about redundancy. However, in sophisticated writing, repetition is a way to highlight what is important. You should repeat keywords frequently enough throughout an essay that your reader is in no danger of losing your thread; parallelism offers a further opportunity to create cohesion and to emphasize crucial points. Here are a few rhetorically powerful examples of repetition in parallel positions:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\"<strong>The inherent vice<\/strong> of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; <strong>the inherent virtue<\/strong> of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.\" \u2014Winston Churchill<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall <strong>pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe<\/strong> to assure the survival and the success of liberty.\" \u2014John F. Kennedy<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\"And that government <strong>of the people, by the people, for the people<\/strong>, shall not perish from the earth.\" \u2014Abraham Lincoln, <em>Gettysburg Address<\/em><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThese repeated phrases seem to bind the work together and make it more powerful\u2014and more inspiring. This use of parallelism can be especially useful in writing conclusions of academic papers.","rendered":"<p>Parallel structures are sequences of coordinated words, phrases, or clauses that are of the same grammatical structure. Parallel structure can be applied to a single sentence, a paragraph, or even multiple paragraphs. Compare the two following sentences:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rural landlords wanted income from rent, to farm parts of their own estate, and being middlemen for agricultural trade.<\/li>\n<li>Rural landlords wanted income from rent, from farming parts of their own estate, and from being middlemen for agricultural trade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Most people find the second sentence\u00a0easier to comprehend than the first because the second sentence uses parallelism\u2014the &#8220;from&#8221; launches three different forms of desired income, so that the reader easily understands that rent, farming, and being middlemen are all options. The first sentence is more confusing because the concepts don&#8217;t line up grammatically: the first and third options (<em>rent<\/em> and <em>being middlemen<\/em>) have &#8220;wanted income from&#8221; as their root; the second time (<em>to farm parts<\/em>) has perhaps only &#8220;wanted&#8221; as its root. While the first sentence is technically okay, it&#8217;s awkward and makes it easy to trip up over the mismatching items. Parallelism improves writing style and readability, and it makes sentences easier to process.<\/p>\n<p>Compare the following examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lacking parallelism: &#8220;She likes cooking, jogging, and <i>to read<\/i>.&#8221;\n<ul>\n<li>Parallel: &#8220;She likes cooking, jogging, and reading.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Parallel: &#8220;She likes to cook, jog, and read.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Lacking parallelism: &#8220;He likes to swim and <i>running<\/i>.&#8221;\n<ul>\n<li>Parallel: &#8220;He likes to swim and to run.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Parallel: &#8220;He likes swimming and running.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once again, the examples above\u00a0combine\u00a0gerunds (a noun formed by adding <em>-ing<\/em> to a verb) and infinitives (the form a verb takes when preceded by <em>to<\/em>). To make them parallel, the sentences should\u00a0be rewritten with just\u00a0gerunds or just\u00a0infinitives.\u00a0Note that the first nonparallel example, while inelegantly worded, is grammatically correct: &#8220;cooking,&#8221; &#8220;jogging,&#8221; and &#8220;to read&#8221; are all grammatically valid conclusions to &#8220;She likes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Parallelism can also apply to names. If you&#8217;re writing a research paper that includes\u00a0references to several different authors, be consistent in your references. For example, if\u00a0you talk about Jane Goodall and Henry Harlow, you should say &#8220;Goodall and Harlow,&#8221; not &#8220;Jane and Harlow&#8221; or &#8220;Goodall and Henry.&#8221; This is something that would carry on through your entire paper: you should\u00a0use the same mode of address for\u00a0every person you mention.<\/p>\n<p>You can also apply parallelism\u00a0across a passage:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Manuel painted eight paintings in the last week.\u00a0Jennifer sculpted five statues in the last month. Zama\u00a0wrote\u00a0fifteen\u00a0songs in the last two months.<\/p>\n<p>Each of the sentences in the preceding paragraph has the same structure: Name +\u00a0<em>-ed<\/em> verb + number of things +\u00a0<em>in the<\/em>\u00a0past time period.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a more sophisticated example that&#8217;s\u00a0useful, too, because it makes a move that often occurs in academic writing: elaborating on an initial claim. This example is adapted from Keith Wrightson&#8217;s <em>English Society 1580-1680<\/em> (p. 134):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Those best placed to prosper were the yeomanry, whether they were freeholders owning their own land or substantial tenants. If freeholders, they were immune from the rent increases of the period. If large tenants, they were commonly profiting from their farming enough to afford rent increases with comparative ease.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Do\u00a0of the following sentences correctly employ parallelism? If not,\u00a0revise the sentences in the text frame below.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Kya is really good at\u00a0writing poems\u00a0and making\u00a0pottery.\u00a0Atswei is a good singer and a good dancer.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t forget to let the dog out or\u00a0to feed the cats.<\/li>\n<li>In this paper, we will reference the works of Walton and\u00a0Sir John Cockcroft.<\/li>\n<li>Whenever he drives, Reza pays attention to what he&#8217;s doing and is watching the drivers around him.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><textarea aria-label=\"Your Answer\" rows=\"4\"><\/textarea><\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q456006\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q456006\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>No. While the both\u00a0sentences are internally parallel, they are not parallel with each other. Here are two possible revisions to improve parallelism:\n<ul>\n<li>Kya is really good at writing poems and making sculptures. Atswei is really\u00a0good at singing and dancing.<\/li>\n<li>Kya is a\u00a0good poet and sculptor. Atswei is a good singer and a good dancer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Yes. This sentence is parallel. The two phrases &#8220;to let the dog out&#8221; and &#8220;to feed the cats&#8221;\u00a0are both infinitives.<\/li>\n<li>No. While the sentence is grammatically correct, it is not parallel. The two following revisions are parallel versions of this sentence:\n<ul>\n<li>In this paper, we will reference the works of Dr. Ernest Walton and Sir John Cockcroft.<\/li>\n<li>In this paper, we will reference the works of Walton and Cockcroft.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>No. While the sentence is grammatically correct, it is not parallel. The two following revisions are parallel versions of this sentence:\n<ul>\n<li>Whenever he drives, Reza pays attention to what he&#8217;s doing and watches\u00a0the drivers around him.<\/li>\n<li>Whenever he drives, Reza is paying\u00a0attention to what he&#8217;s doing and is watching the drivers around him.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Parallelism and Repetition<\/h2>\n<p>Parallelism can also involve\u00a0repeated words\u00a0or\u00a0repeated phrases. Inexperienced writers often think that repetition should be avoided at all costs, probably because someone once warned them, usefully enough, about redundancy. However, in sophisticated writing, repetition is a way to highlight what is important. You should repeat keywords frequently enough throughout an essay that your reader is in no danger of losing your thread; parallelism offers a further opportunity to create cohesion and to emphasize crucial points. Here are a few rhetorically powerful examples of repetition in parallel positions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;<strong>The inherent vice<\/strong> of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; <strong>the inherent virtue<\/strong> of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.&#8221; \u2014Winston Churchill<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall <strong>pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe<\/strong> to assure the survival and the success of liberty.&#8221; \u2014John F. Kennedy<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;And that government <strong>of the people, by the people, for the people<\/strong>, shall not perish from the earth.&#8221; \u2014Abraham Lincoln, <em>Gettysburg Address<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These repeated phrases seem to bind the work together and make it more powerful\u2014and more inspiring. This use of parallelism can be especially useful in writing conclusions of academic papers.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-214\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Parallel Structure. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Revision and Adaptation. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Gillian Paku. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: SUNY Geneseo. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Examples of Parallelism. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Parallelism_(grammar)\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Parallelism_(grammar)<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":7,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Examples of Parallelism\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Parallelism_(grammar)\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Parallel Structure\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Revision and Adaptation\",\"author\":\"Gillian Paku\",\"organization\":\"SUNY Geneseo\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-214","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":284,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1869,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/214\/revisions\/1869"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/284"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/214\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=214"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=214"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}