Parallelism

Parallelism: If two or more ideas are parallel, they are easier to grasp when expressed in parallel
grammatical form. Single words should be balanced with single words, phrases with phrases,
clauses with clauses.

Purpose: Putting similar items into the same grammatical structure helps readers see the
connection among those elements and follow your sentences and your thoughts.

Using Effective Parallelism

• In a Series or List: Use the same grammatical form for all items in a series or list—all
  nouns, all gerunds, all prepositional phrases, and so on.
  o Not Parallel: The dictionary can be used to find word meanings, pronunciations,
  correct spellings, and looking up irregular verbs.
  o Parallel: The dictionary can be used to find word meanings, pronunciations, correct
  spellings, and irregular verbs.
• With Paired Ideas: When connecting ideas with “and,” “but,” “yet,” or another coordinating
  conjunction or with “either…or” or another correlative conjunction, you need to use the same
  grammatical structure for each idea.
  o Not Parallel: Students were told to either consult their teaching assistants or to go to
  the writing center.
  o Parallel: Students were told to either consult their teaching assistants or go to the
  writing center.
• In Comparison: When you join words, phrases, and clauses by a comparative expression,
  such as “not only…but also,” “as much as,” “more than,” “less than,” you need to have
  parallel grammatical construction.
  o Not Parallel: Thomas Edison was not only a prolific inventor but also was a
  successful entrepreneur.
  o Parallel: Thomas Edison was not only a prolific inventor but also a successful
  entrepreneur.
  o Not Parallel: It is easier to speak in abstraction than grounding one’s thoughts in
  reality.
  o Parallel: It is easier to speak in abstractions than to ground one’s thoughts in reality.
• On Presentation Slides: Entries of lists or bullet points should be in parallel grammatical
  form.
• On a Résumé: Entries on a résumé should be grammatically and typographically parallel.
• In Headings: When you use headings in your writing, make sure that they are in parallel
  form.

Creating Impact through Parallelism–Comparison and Effective Repetition

The following examples offer guidance on how to utilize this impactful writing technique. Each
of the sentences derives meaning by incorporating a sense of rhythm and relationship, two
major features of parallelism. Rhythm aids the flow of one’s writing and encourages creativity
by allowing the writer to draw from words, nouns, verbs, and sounds that elevate what is being
communicated through repetition and reinforcement. The relationship is forged by presenting
ideas that can be linked to images and concepts that align or connect to convey a meaningful
message.

• “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a
  lifetime.”
  ○ This English proverb is one of the most widely circulated demonstrations of
  parallelism. It uses repetition, paired ideas, and comparison to illustrate an idea.
• “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
  ○ This is a display of parallelism written by Charles Dickens that appears in his
  classic novel A Tale of Two Cities. While this example is largely useful in a
  creative writing or literary context, it is useful when attempting to recognize how
  the concept of parallelism appears in a narrative. Here we see repetition used to
  convey a key story element.
• “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
  ○ This statement by astronaut Neil Armstrong as he stepped on the moon in 1969
  offers another prominent display of parallelism. The historical phrase features two
  mirroring nouns (“one”) and a sharp contrast that manifests in the “small” versus
  the “giant.”
• “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is
  faced.”
  ○ This statement is from James Baldwin’s 1962 essay, “As Much Truth As One Can
  Bear,” published in The New York Times Book Review. In this essay, Baldwin
  employs the rhetorical technique of chiasmus by repeating words, grammatical
  structures, constructions, and concepts in reverse order or altered form.