{"id":834,"date":"2016-07-15T23:03:43","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T23:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level3-english\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=834"},"modified":"2017-09-26T17:34:18","modified_gmt":"2017-09-26T17:34:18","slug":"text-parallel-structure","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/chapter\/text-parallel-structure\/","title":{"raw":"Parallel Structure","rendered":"Parallel Structure"},"content":{"raw":"What exactly is parallel structure? It's simply the practice of using the same structures or forms multiple times: making sure the parts are parallel to each other.\u00a0Parallel 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>Yara\u00a0loves running,\u00a0to swim, and biking.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Yara\u00a0loves running, swimming, and biking.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWas the second sentence a smoother\u00a0read\u00a0than the first? The second sentence uses parallelism\u2014all three verbs are gerunds\u2014whereas in the first sentence two are gerunds and one is an infinitive. While the first sentence is technically correct, it's easy to trip up over the mismatching items.\u00a0The application of 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 to read.\"<\/li>\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\nOnce again, the examples above\u00a0combine\u00a0gerunds and infinitives. To make them parallel, the sentences should\u00a0be rewritten with just\u00a0gerunds or just\u00a0infinitives.\u00a0Note that the nonparallel example, while inelegantly worded, is grammatically correct: \"cooking,\" \"jogging,\" and \"to read\" are all grammatically valid conclusions to \"She likes.\"\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Lacking\u00a0parallelism: \"The dog ran across the yard and jumped over the fence, and <strong>down the alley he sprinted<\/strong>.\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Parallel: \"The dog ran across the yard, jumped over the fence, and <b>sprinted down the alley<\/b>.\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe nonparallel\u00a0example, is grammatically valid; \"down the alley he sprinted\" is an entirely separate clause. However, it is not parallel. You may find that the parallel example sounds much better to your ears.\r\n\r\nParallelism can also apply to names. If you're writing a research paper that includes\u00a0references to several different authors, you should\u00a0be 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. When using parallelism across multiple sentences, be sure that you're using it well. If you aren't careful, you can stray into being repetitive. Unfortunately,\u00a0really the only way to test this is by\u00a0re-reading the passage and seeing if it \"feels right.\" While this test doesn't have any rules to it, it can often help.\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nLook at the following items. Identify and address any issues with parallelism.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>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>\r\n \t<li>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>\r\n \t<li><em>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>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"486627\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"486627\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>The first two sentences that identify behaviors of low self-esteem both start with the construction\u00a0adjective +\u00a0<em>individuals<\/em> +\u00a0<em>may<\/em> verb. Changing the third sentence to match this construction\u00a0will create a stronger introduction to the paper:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>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>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>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:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>they also tend to have the same sort of interests, biases, and mental processes<\/li>\r\n \t<li>they also tend to have similar\u00a0interests, biases, and\u00a0mental processes<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\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\":\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Not only do these sets of individuals share many physical characteristics, but they also share\u00a0similar interests, biases, and mental processes.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>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 +\u00a0<em>of<\/em> + adjective noun). Here are a couple\u00a0suggestions for more parallel items:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Its depth of\u00a0color, intensity of contrast, and lack of form\u00a0reflect the attitudes of the day.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Its dark\u00a0colors, intense contrast, and lax\u00a0forms\u00a0reflect the attitudes of the day.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Rhetoric and Parallelism<\/h2>\r\nParallelism can also involve\u00a0repeated words\u00a0or\u00a0repeated phrases. These uses are part of \"rhetoric\" (a field that focuses on persuading readers)\u00a0Here are a few examples of repetition:\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\nWhen used this way, parallelism makes your writing or speaking much stronger.\u00a0These 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 or in persuasive writing.","rendered":"<p>What exactly is parallel structure? It&#8217;s simply the practice of using the same structures or forms multiple times: making sure the parts are parallel to each other.\u00a0Parallel structure can be applied to a single sentence, a paragraph, or even multiple paragraphs. Compare the two following sentences:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Yara\u00a0loves running,\u00a0to swim, and biking.<\/li>\n<li>Yara\u00a0loves running, swimming, and biking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Was the second sentence a smoother\u00a0read\u00a0than the first? The second sentence uses parallelism\u2014all three verbs are gerunds\u2014whereas in the first sentence two are gerunds and one is an infinitive. While the first sentence is technically correct, it&#8217;s easy to trip up over the mismatching items.\u00a0The application of 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 to read.&#8221;<\/li>\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<p>Once again, the examples above\u00a0combine\u00a0gerunds and infinitives. To make them parallel, the sentences should\u00a0be rewritten with just\u00a0gerunds or just\u00a0infinitives.\u00a0Note that the 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<ul>\n<li>Lacking\u00a0parallelism: &#8220;The dog ran across the yard and jumped over the fence, and <strong>down the alley he sprinted<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Parallel: &#8220;The dog ran across the yard, jumped over the fence, and <b>sprinted down the alley<\/b>.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The nonparallel\u00a0example, is grammatically valid; &#8220;down the alley he sprinted&#8221; is an entirely separate clause. However, it is not parallel. You may find that the parallel example sounds much better to your ears.<\/p>\n<p>Parallelism can also apply to names. If you&#8217;re writing a research paper that includes\u00a0references to several different authors, you should\u00a0be 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. When using parallelism across multiple sentences, be sure that you&#8217;re using it well. If you aren&#8217;t careful, you can stray into being repetitive. Unfortunately,\u00a0really the only way to test this is by\u00a0re-reading the passage and seeing if it &#8220;feels right.&#8221; While this test doesn&#8217;t have any rules to it, it can often help.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Look at the following items. Identify and address any issues with parallelism.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>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&#8217; in order to keep the peace. Yet another symptom is the retreat from society as a whole\u2014to become isolated.<\/li>\n<li>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<li><em>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<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=\"q486627\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q486627\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>The first two sentences that identify behaviors of low self-esteem both start with the construction\u00a0adjective +\u00a0<em>individuals<\/em> +\u00a0<em>may<\/em> verb. Changing the third sentence to match this construction\u00a0will create a stronger introduction to the paper:\n<ul>\n<li>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&#8217; in order to keep the peace. Yet other individuals may\u00a0retreat from society as a whole\u00a0and\u00a0become isolated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The ending clause &#8220;they also tend to have the same sort of interests and biases and utilize similar mental processes&#8221; could be more parallel (and more succinct) than it currently is. You could revise it to\u00a0something like these:\n<ul>\n<li>they also tend to have the same sort of interests, biases, and mental processes<\/li>\n<li>they also tend to have similar\u00a0interests, biases, and\u00a0mental processes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you wanted to make the whole sentence more parallel, you may want to adjust the sentence to match the structure of the phrase &#8220;Not only do these sets of individuals share many physical characteristics&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Not only do these sets of individuals share many physical characteristics, but they also share\u00a0similar interests, biases, and mental processes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The items\u00a0in &#8220;its dark colors, contrast, and lack of definite form&#8221; don&#8217;t quite match up. While they are all nouns, each item has a different\u00a0structure (adjective noun, noun, noun +\u00a0<em>of<\/em> + adjective noun). Here are a couple\u00a0suggestions for more parallel items:\n<ul>\n<li>Its depth of\u00a0color, intensity of contrast, and lack of form\u00a0reflect the attitudes of the day.<\/li>\n<li>Its dark\u00a0colors, intense contrast, and lax\u00a0forms\u00a0reflect the attitudes of the day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Rhetoric and Parallelism<\/h2>\n<p>Parallelism can also involve\u00a0repeated words\u00a0or\u00a0repeated phrases. These uses are part of &#8220;rhetoric&#8221; (a field that focuses on persuading readers)\u00a0Here are a few examples of repetition:<\/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>When used this way, parallelism makes your writing or speaking much stronger.\u00a0These 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 or in persuasive writing.<\/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-834\">\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>Text: Parallel Structure. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <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":29,"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\":\"Text: Parallel Structure\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"0f9aaa4f-54f8-49c5-b251-5b0b12a13a89, 98a42caf-ed9d-42bb-908a-a4ff2a19ee16","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-834","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":756,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1987,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/834\/revisions\/1987"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/756"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/834\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=834"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=834"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}