Why are parallelisms used

Teach a man to sell fish, and he eats steaks. Give a man a chain of seafood restaurants, and he eats whatever he wants. The continued parallelism undermines the initial meaning of the proverb. Writers can create a sense of rhythm in their works with parallelism. Repeating grammatical elements such as words, sounds, noun or verb phrases, helps to pace writing for the reader. Parallelism allows writers to create a sense of relationship between words, phrases, and sentences, which then establishes relationships between things and ideas.

This can be done through comparison or contrast, either within a single sentence or a group of sentences. Parallelism is an effective literary device when used properly. Here are some examples of parallelism and how it adds to the significance of well-known literary works:. In this line from his famous play, Shaw utilizes parallelism to set forth a contrast of ideas by inverting the wording of the phrases but maintaining their grammatical structure. To generalize about war is like generalizing about peace.

In grammar, parallelism is the principle that using similar grammatical elements in certain contexts—when making a list, for example—leads to sentences that flow in a more natural way. In the following sets of sentences, the first version is parallel while the second is not. Note how the examples without parallelism are awkward and a little confusing.

In this first set of sentences, the first sentence contains a list of three parallel nouns , while the second combines two nouns with a verb. In the second set of sentences, the first contains parallel adjectives , while the second combines two adjectives with a verb.

In contrast to the strictly grammatical view of parallelism, in rhetoric and literature parallelism can do much more than just create a pleasing and grammatical sentence structure. Writers use parallel grammatical elements within one sentence or, more broadly, between and among different sentences in a paragraph, for effect : to emphasize ideas or themes , suggest connections, or highlight contrasts, all while adding rhythm to the structure of their expression. While parallelism is itself a figure of speech, it can also be seen as a kind of "umbrella" category of a number of different figures of speech.

Put another way: there are a number of figures of speech that make use of parallelism in specific ways. It's useful to know what these other terms mean, since technically speaking they are specific types of parallelism. One literary device that often makes use of parallelism is antithesis. In antitheses, two elements of a sentence are placed in contrast to one another. This opposition is clearest when a writer puts the ideas in parallel positions.

Neil Armstrong used antithesis with parallelism when he first stepped onto the surface of the moon in , using the parallel structure of the two halves of his sentence to highlight the contrast between his "small step" and the "giant leap" that this step represented in the history of humanity. That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. Another specific type of parallelism is anaphora. This figure of speech involves the repetition of at least one word at the beginning of successive clauses or phrases.

We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender Note that there are also other uses of parallelism in this excerpt of Churchill's speech that do not fall into the category of anaphora.

The different locations that Churchill names "on the beaches In asyndeton , a conjunction such as "and" is omitted between parts of a sentence to create a certain rhythm. Often, this is made possible by parallelism, which helps the reader to interpret the sentence's meaning even when it is not technically grammatically correct.

In Julius Caesar's famous boast to the Senate after his victory at the Battle of Zela, he makes use of asyndeton because he omits the word "and" before the final clause.

Technically this omission of "and" makes the sentence an example of "comma splicing," which is a grammatical no-no, but the parallelism allows the meaning to come through and creates a pleasing rhythm. Epistrophe is the opposite of anaphora. Instead of repeated word s at the beginning of successive phrases, epistrophe involves repeating words at the end of successive phrases. Abraham Lincoln employed epistrophe when he declared in his Gettysburg Address that the Union was fighting to defend a government "of the people , by the people , for the people.

Parallelism occurs frequently in poetry and prose, from ancient Hebrew poetry to contemporary fiction. In this pair of verses from Psalm 24, there are two examples of what biblical scholars call synonymous parallelism , meaning that the idea of the first clause is repeated and rephrased with a parallel grammatical structure in the second clause to emphasize or amplify the point.

The earth is the LORD's and everything in it , the world, and all who live in it ; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar , Mark Antony is given the opportunity to speak at the funeral of his recently assassinated friend, Caesar. He uses this chance to incite a riot in the hopes of winning back control of the Senate from the conspirators who assassinated Caesar in the first place. Friends, Romans, countrymen , lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar , not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them ; The good is oft interred with their bones Parallelism provides phrases with grammatical symmetry. List of Terms Action. Ad Hominem. Alter Ego. APA Citation. Comic Relief. Deus ex machina. Double Entendre. Dramatic irony. Extended Metaphor. Fairy Tale. Figures of Speech. He decided to cover the gown in sequins, and to celebrate, he had a steak for dinner. The possible connections are endless, but for proper parallelism, that connection must be clear to the reader.

In rhetoric—that is, in the world of literature and speeches, or anytime you want to sound extra fancy— parallelism involves one or more sentences with similar structures to produce a pattern of repetition and balance. I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. Love me, love me, say that you love me, Fool me, fool me, go on and fool me.

Parallelism helps make your writing as neat as a geometry equation. Specifically, one with parallel lines. You know what they say: you win some, you lose some. Real-time suggestions, wherever you write. Parallelism Alice E. Olympic athletes usually like to practice, compete, and eat ice cream sandwiches.