• Parallelism is the presentation of several ideas of equal
importance by putting each of them into the same kind of
grammatical structure. Each of the ideas is ordered or
phrased similarly:
• To think carefully and to write precisely are
interrelated goals.
Parallelism or Parallel
Structure
• Broken: Julie liked reading the paper more
than lunch.
• Revised for parallelism: Julie liked
reading the paper more than eating lunch.
Broken Parallelism
• The carefully trimmed trees in the front
yard and the spectacularly clean patio in
the back revealed the meticulous nature of
the homeowner.
Parallel subjects
• The agency had frequently received but
seldom revealed a large number of crank
phone calls.
Parallel Verbs and
Adverbs
• The doctor carefully examined the heel, the
ankle, and the toes.
Parallel Objects
• Mom went to Hannah’s room and gave her
a drink, pulled up her blanket, and kissed
her forehead.
Parallel Verbs and
Objects
• The dropped apple floated down the river
and under the bridge.
Parallel prepositional
phrases
• A type of parallelism in which the balanced
elements are presented in reverse order rather
than in the same order.
• (A, B is balanced by A,B vs. A, B is balanced by B, A)
• The code breakers worked constantly but succeeded rarely.
• The code breakers worked constantly but rarely succeeded.
Chiasmus
• Antithesis contrasts two ideas by placing
them next to each other, almost always in
parallel structure
• To err is human; to forgive, divine. – Alexander Pope
• That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for
mankind. – Neil Armstrong
Antithesis