Language and writer’s craft: parallel structure YOU NEED: Vocab List & Writing Utensil

Learning targets 1. I can identify & revise instances of faulty parallelism. 2. I can use parallel structure in writing.

What is Parallel structure? Whether creating narratives or other forms of writing, writers use sentence structure (syntax) to create the effects they want. Using parallelism is one way of creating balanced sentence structure by creating a series at the word, phrase, or clause level.

Examples of parallel structure WORDS: “My guinea pig eats nuts, seeds, and lettuce leaves.” PHRASES: “My can raced in the door, onto the table, and into my lap.” CLAUSES: “We swept the floor, we dusted the mantle, and we cooked a hot meal to welcome our guests.”

PART I: PARALLEL STRUCTURE – Gettysburg address 1. “But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.”  

PART I: PARALLEL STRUCTURE – Gettysburg address  2. “…government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” 2. “…government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

What is parallel structure? Parallel structure means using the same pattern of words in a series or in a compound structure to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance.

Part ii: parallel structure – Lincoln’s inaugural address  1. “To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest [slavery] was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war…” 1. “To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest [slavery] was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war…”

Part ii: parallel structure – Lincoln’s inaugural address 2. “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in…” 2. “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in…”

Part III: parallel structure – jfk’s inaugural address 1. “The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans – born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage…”  

Part III: parallel structure – jfk’s inaugural address 2. “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” 2. “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

New vocab: anaphora ANAPHORA is the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of two or more clauses or lines. Example: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness… (Charles Dickens)

Part IV: Anaphora – Martin Luther king, jr. “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”

Part IV: Anaphora – Martin Luther king, jr. “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”

Your turn… Work on your own or with your table group to rewrite the sentences on the back of your worksheet using correct parallelism.