Parallel structure (also called parallelism) is the repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence. By making each compared item or idea in your sentence follow the same grammatical pattern, you create a parallel construction.
Do you think slavery still exists in this modern time? Write five sentences in parallel structure about modern slavery.
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Answer:
Parallelism, also known as parallel structure, is when phrases in a sentence have similar or the same grammatical structure. In its most basic usage, parallelism provides a phrase with balance and clarity. Parallelism also serves to give phrases a pattern and rhythm.
For example:
That’s one step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
When Neil Armstrong first stepped foot onto the moon, he said what would become a famous quote. In this example, parallelism occurs in the repetition of “one … for ….” Both phrases also follow the same grammatical structure:
One step (action) for (preposition) man (noun)… one leap (action) for (preposition) mankind (noun).
This parallelism gives it a memorable rhythm and repetition.
II. Examples of Parallelism
Parallelism gives prose and poetry a sense of symmetry and balance.
Example 1
For a first example of parallelism, read this excerpt from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.