{"id":150,"date":"2017-07-20T16:29:57","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T16:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/chapter\/practice-activities-parallel-structure\/"},"modified":"2017-07-20T16:29:57","modified_gmt":"2017-07-20T16:29:57","slug":"practice-activities-parallel-structure","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/chapter\/practice-activities-parallel-structure\/","title":{"raw":"Practice Activities: Parallel Structure","rendered":"Practice Activities: Parallel Structure"},"content":{"raw":"

Parallelism<\/h2>\nRead the following passage. Correct any errors in parallelism that you find. Remember, non-parallel things are typically grammatically correct, but making things parallel\u00a0will improve your writing style. Type your correct answer in the text frame below:\n

\"The Bone Wars\"\u00a0refers to\u00a0a period of intense fossil speculation and discovery in\u00a0American history (1872\u20131892). The wars were marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh.\u00a0At one time, Edward\u00a0and Marsh were amicable: they even named species after each other.\u00a0Over time, however, their relationship soured, likely due in part to their strong personalities. Cope was known to be pugnacious and possessed a quick temper. Marsh was slower, more methodical, and introverted. Eventually, each of the two paleontologists would resort to\u00a0underhanded methods to try to out-compete the other in the field, resorting to bribery, theft, and destroying\u00a0bones.<\/p>\n

By the end of the Bone Wars, both Cope and Marsh were financially and socially ruined by their attempts to disgrace each other, but their contributions to science and the field of paleontology were massive.\u00a0Several of Cope's and Marsh's discoveries are the most well-known of dinosaurs: Triceratops, Allosaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus. Their cumulative discoveries defined the then-emerging field of paleontology. Before Cope's and Marsh's discoveries, there were only nine named species of dinosaur in North America.\u00a0Judging by pure numbers, Marsh \"won\" the Bone Wars: Cope discovered a total of 56 new dinosaur species, but Marsh had found\u00a080.<\/p>\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\n[reveal-answer q=\"255101\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\n[hidden-answer a=\"255101\"]Here are the sentences that have issues with parallelism, as well as suggestions for their revision.\n

  1. At one time, Edward<\/strong>\u00a0and Marsh<\/strong> were amicable: they even named species after each other.\n
    • In this sentence, there is both a first name and a last name used to identify different people. Unless one person commonly goes by their last name while the other goes by their first, you should use\u00a0first or last names; not a mix of the two: \"Cope and Marsh were. . . \"<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t
    • Cope was known to be pugnacious<\/strong> and possessed<\/strong> a quick temper.\n
      • \"Was known to be\" and \"possessed\" are both past-tense verbs, but one is a perfect tense (known) while the other isn't. To make the sentence more parallel, you would change it to something like \"Cope was known to be pugnacious and to possess a quick temper\" or \"Cope was pugnacious and possessed a quick temper.\"<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t
      • Marsh was slower<\/strong>, more methodical<\/strong>, and introverted<\/strong>.\n
        • The first to adjectives are comparatives, while\u00a0introverted<\/em> is not. A more parallel version of the sentence would read: \"Marsh was slower, more methodical, and more introverted.\"<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t
        • Eventually, each of the two paleontologists would resort to\u00a0underhanded methods to try to out-compete the other in the field, resorting to bribery<\/strong>, theft<\/strong>, and destroying<\/strong>\u00a0bones.\n
          • Bribery<\/em> and\u00a0theft<\/em> are both nouns, while\u00a0destroying<\/em> is a gerund.\u00a0Changing\u00a0destroying<\/em> to a noun will make the sentence more parallel: \"bribery, theft, and the destruction of bones.\"<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t
          • Judging by pure numbers, Marsh \"won\" the Bone Wars: Cope discovered<\/strong> a total of 56 new dinosaur species, but Marsh had found<\/strong>\u00a080.\n
            • Saying \"Marsh discovered 80\" instead of using\u00a0had found<\/em>\u00a0is a better fit for parallel structure.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[\/hidden-answer]\n

              Academic Sentences<\/h2>\nLook at the following items. Identify and address any issues with parallelism.\n
              1. Low self-esteem can manifest itself\u00a0in various behaviors. Some\u00a0individuals may become paralyzed at the prospect of making a decision. Other individuals may bend their wills to others' in order to keep the peace. Yet another symptom is the retreat from society as a whole\u2014to become isolated.<\/li>\n \t
              2. The influence of genetics on human\u00a0behavior has been shown through studies of twins who were separated at birth. Not only do these sets of individuals share many physical characteristics, but they also tend to have the same sort of interests\u00a0and\u00a0biases and utilize similar mental processes.<\/li>\n \t
              3. Nocturne in Black and Gold (The Falling Rocket)<\/em> by James Abbott McNeil Whistler is very emblematic of the impressionist movement: its\u00a0dark colors, contrast, and lack of definite form reflect the attitudes of the day.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\n[reveal-answer q=\"486627\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\n[hidden-answer a=\"486627\"]\n
                1. The first two sentences that identify behaviors of low self-esteem both start with the construction\u00a0adjective +\u00a0individuals<\/em> +\u00a0may<\/em> verb. Changing the third sentence to match this construction\u00a0will create a stronger introduction to the paper:\n
                  • Low self-esteem can manifest itself in various behaviors. Some individuals may become paralyzed at the prospect of making a decision. Other individuals may bend their wills to others' in order to keep the peace. Yet other individuals may\u00a0retreat from society as a whole\u00a0and\u00a0become isolated.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t
                  • The ending clause \"they also tend to have the same sort of interests and biases and utilize similar mental processes\" could be more parallel (and more succinct) than it currently is. You could revise it to\u00a0something like these:\n
                    • they also tend to have the same sort of interests, biases, and mental processes<\/li>\n \t
                    • they also tend to have similar\u00a0interests, biases, and\u00a0mental processes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIf you wanted to make the whole sentence more parallel, you may want to adjust the sentence to match the structure of the phrase \"Not only do these sets of individuals share many physical characteristics\":\n
                      • Not only do these sets of individuals share many physical characteristics, but they also share\u00a0similar interests, biases, and mental processes.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t
                      • The items\u00a0in \"its dark colors, contrast, and lack of definite form\" don't quite match up. While they are all nouns, each item has a different\u00a0structure (adjective noun, noun, noun +\u00a0of<\/em> + adjective noun). Here are a couple\u00a0suggestions for more parallel items:\n
                        • Its depth of\u00a0color, intensity of contrast, and lack of form\u00a0reflect the attitudes of the day.<\/li>\n \t
                        • Its dark\u00a0colors, intense contrast, and lax\u00a0forms\u00a0reflect the attitudes of the day.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[\/hidden-answer]","rendered":"

                          Parallelism<\/h2>\n

                          Read the following passage. Correct any errors in parallelism that you find. Remember, non-parallel things are typically grammatically correct, but making things parallel\u00a0will improve your writing style. Type your correct answer in the text frame below:<\/p>\n

                          “The Bone Wars”\u00a0refers to\u00a0a period of intense fossil speculation and discovery in\u00a0American history (1872\u20131892). The wars were marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh.\u00a0At one time, Edward\u00a0and Marsh were amicable: they even named species after each other.\u00a0Over time, however, their relationship soured, likely due in part to their strong personalities. Cope was known to be pugnacious and possessed a quick temper. Marsh was slower, more methodical, and introverted. Eventually, each of the two paleontologists would resort to\u00a0underhanded methods to try to out-compete the other in the field, resorting to bribery, theft, and destroying\u00a0bones.<\/p>\n

                          By the end of the Bone Wars, both Cope and Marsh were financially and socially ruined by their attempts to disgrace each other, but their contributions to science and the field of paleontology were massive.\u00a0Several of Cope’s and Marsh’s discoveries are the most well-known of dinosaurs: Triceratops, Allosaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus. Their cumulative discoveries defined the then-emerging field of paleontology. Before Cope’s and Marsh’s discoveries, there were only nine named species of dinosaur in North America.\u00a0Judging by pure numbers, Marsh “won” the Bone Wars: Cope discovered a total of 56 new dinosaur species, but Marsh had found\u00a080.<\/p>\n