Parallel Structures
Parallel structures
• What is a parallel structure?
– Refers to identical grammatical structures that add rhythm and
balance to images (Noden, 2011).
– Adds musical quality that adds emphasis and sound to central
images (Noden, 2011).
– Example:
• Season 1 (1959–1960)
– There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It
is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is
the middle ground between light and shadow, between science
and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and
the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of
imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.
• —Rod Serling
Examples
• Between the past and the future, between
sanity and madness, between dreams and
reality, lies the mystery of the 12 monkeys.
(Universal Studios)
• Between what can be seen and what must be
feared, between what lives and what never
dies, between the light of truth and the
darkness of evil, lies the future of terror.
(Universal Studios)
Types
• Literal repetition
– Repeating the exact same thing over and over
throughout
• Grammatical repetition
– Using the same structure throughout
• Literal and grammatical repetition
– Using both
Literal repetition
• Dear big brother,
• Remember the day I borrowed your brand new car and I dented it?
I thought you'd kill me, but you didn't. And remember the time I
dragged you to the beach, and you said it would rain, and it did? I
thought you'd say, "I told you so." But you didn't. Do you
remember the time I spilled strawberry pie all over your car rug? I
thought you'd hit me, but you didn't. And remember the time I
forgot to tell you the wedding was formal and you showed up in
jeans? I thought you'd yell at me, but you didn't. Yes, there were
lots of things you didn't do, But you put up with me, and you loved
me, and you protected me. There were lots of things I wanted to
make up to you when you returned from Iraq.
• Sincerely, ...but you didn't.
Literal repetition
• I talked more quickly—more vehemently; but
the noise steadily increased. I arose and
argued about trifles, in a high key with
gesticulations, but the noise steadily
increased. Why would they not be gone? I
paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides,
as if excited to fury by the observation of the
men—but the noise steadily increased
– “The Tell-tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe
Literal repetition
• Examples from students:
– It was all so clear now. She knew who had killed
Sylvia. It was someone who hated her, someone who
had been a friend of hers, someone who never
forgave her for how she had treated him, someone
from high school, someone who knew her old
nickname was Syl. It was Bruce Crystal!
– Every day some kid makes a big name for himself in
high school or college, but only the best make it to
the NFL. Only the best of the best make it to the Hall
of Fame. And running backs are a breed apart, lone
warriors facing minefields of destruction and in this
dog-eat-dog league, only the best survive.
Name: ____________________
Parallel Structure Activity
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Choose a “zone”
The Sports Zone
The Political Zone
The Nature Zone
The School Zone
The Music Zone
The Crime Zone
The Friendship Zone
The Vampire Zone
The Movie Zone
The Cafeteria Zone
The Love Zone
The Forest Zone
The Car Wash Zone
The Skateboard Zone
The Math Zone
The Television Zone
Any other zone you
can think of or
want to try
Use the outline to fill in the parallel structures, using YOUR zone.
The ________________ Zone
There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to
man. It is a dimension as ____________ as
_________________ and as _____________________ as
__________________. It is the ____________
____________between ____________________ and
_______________, between __________________________
and ________________________, and it lies between the
_________________________ of ___________
____________, and the ______________ of his/her
________________. This is the dimension of
_______________________. It is an area which we call…. THE
_______________ ZONE.
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Original: There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is
a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle
ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it
lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is
the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.
Literal Parallel Structures Examples
Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
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[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]
BY E. E. CUMMINGS
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
Grammatical Repetition
• Subtler than literal
repetition
• Harder to identify
unless you are listening
for them.
• It uses same
grammatical structure
• Listen to the example…
– Page 59
• Listen for the similar
pattern?
Example two
• Ambition inspired his journey. Nature changed
his destiny.
• What pattern did they use?
Best way to use parallel structure
• Most frequently, these are combined.
Combining literal and grammatical repetitions
make the most emphasis on your reader.
• In his nightmares, he can see them. In his
mind, he can hear them. In his soul he can feel
them. Now in earth's darkest hour, hum must
fight them again. (Ad for the film First
Contact)
Listen to this Ad
http://youtu.be/jiyIcz7wUH0
You may contribute a verse
O Me! O Life!
BY WALT WHITMAN
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more
faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever
renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
Can you find any examples of parallel structure in the poem or the advertisement?
Grammatical Repetition
• “But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -this ground. The brave men, living and dead,
who struggled here, have consecrated it, far
above our poor power to add or detract. The
world will little note, nor long remember
what we say here, but it can never forget
what they did here.” Gettysburg AddressAbraham Lincoln
E.B. White
• Look at the following drafts written by E. B. White, author of
Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web, and note the differences
between his two drafts of an article for the New Yorker. In the
second draft he incorporates parallel structure.
• First Draft:
“The moon still influences the tides and the tides lap on
every shore, right around the globe.
The moon still belongs to lovers, and lovers are everywherenot just in America.”
• Final Draft:
“Like every great river and every great sea, the moon belongs to
none and belongs to all. It still holds the key to madness, still
controls the tides that lap on shores everywhere, still guards the
lovers who kiss in every land under no banner but the sky."
Jack Prelutsky’s The Werewolf
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The full moon glows, foreboding,
And I quake from head to feet.
For this night I know, in the town below,
A werewolf prowls the street.
He stalks with stealth and cunning
In his search for a soul to eat.
With matted hair, and jaws that tear,
A werewolf prowls the street.
His face is filled with fury
As his brain cries out for meat.
And, oh, his prey shall not see day
For the werewolf prowls the street.
So I shake beneath my covers
And I shiver in my sheets,
And I cower in my bed, with a pillow on my head,
As the werewolf prowls the street.
Songs
• Poetry and songs use parallel structure a lot.
Look at these examples from songs:
• Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'll be the one, if you want me to
Anywhere I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you
• Literal or grammatical?
More songs
• Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know
Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
• Where is the grammatical repetition?
More songs
• 'Cause you only need the light when it's burning
low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling
low
Only hate the road when you're missin' home
Only know you love her when you let her go
• Grammatical? Literal?
Poems
• The Raven: Listen and see if you can pick out
the literal and grammatical repetition.
• http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMI
D/15638
Writing poems
• Write a poem, topic is your choice.
• It can be a scary poem, a poem about love, a poem about
strength, a poem about nature, a poem about your favorite
movie; it can be about anything you choose.
• It needs to be at least 12 lines in length.
• It does NOT have to rhyme. It can, but doesn’t have to.
• Use literal repetition in it at least 3 times.
• Use grammatical repetition in it at least 3 times.
• When you’ve finished writing your poem, underline your
literal repetition in red.
• Underline your grammatical repetition in pencil.
Two-Voice Poems
• Read a two-voice poem.
• How does parallel structure enhance the
poem?
• Choose a poem to present to the class.
• Practice your poem.
• Read your poem to the class.
• Graded on emotion and clearly enunciating
the words in the poem so we can hear it.
Writing Two-voice poems
• Choose two topics that either go well together
(peanut butter and jelly; clouds and rain; baseball
and glove; shoes and socks; etc.)
• Or choose two topics that are opposites (light and
dark; day and night; love and hate; dogs and cats;
summer and winter; etc.)
Writing Two-voice poems
• Brainstorm how the two topics are
different/similar in a Venn-diagram or top-hat
chart.
Activity
• Use the sentence frames and write your own
parallel structures.
Activity
• Activity; Old cabin
• Close your eyes. Picture a cabin in the woods.
• You’re going to try to create some sensory images of the cabin you just
pictured.
• Instead of adding additional sentences, you’re going to expand the basic
sentence by adding details created with a rhythm of repeated
prepositions or clauses:
• Like this:
• The old cabin made me feel close to nature.
• Example one: The old cabin with its rustic stone fireplace, with its
handsome log furniture, with its view of Lake Tahoe, made me feel close
to nature.
• Example two: When I awoke to the aroma of burnt fire logs, when I
looked out the window and saw the morning fog roll across the lake,
when I felt the slight chill of the mountain air, the old cabin made me feel
close to nature.