in-GLISH

PARALLELISM

 

Parallelism is a rhetorical device that repeats similar structures, words, and phrases. Harper lee uses the repetition of "with/out him" in this excerpt which appeals to the readers emotion and introduces depth to the character.

"With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.” -To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Authors often use parallelism within their creative and academic writing for style. It also helps the writer add emphasis, be poetic, and smoother. The excerpt below uses the repitition of "ness" at the end of different words to demonstrate the simplicity of the constructions that exist within a racially hierarchical structure and which confine the individual.

I am confined to tanness, foreignness, thatness, unamericanness, otherness, and markedness.

 

This is the existence I have been allowed; this is the trauma of the immigrant. -The Marked Narrative (10/24/2013).

In the second line of the excerpt a parallelism similar to that of Harper Lee occurs where a semi-colon is used as a mirror. Semi-colons are useful in this type of sentence structure because they signify that the writer will be referring to the previous clauses in the second clause.

 

BREAKING THE "RULES"

Often times teachers will tell their students to make sure they use sentence variety or to not use the same sentence pattern repeatedly. Some authors, however, use this strategy to create a tempo, especially with short simple sentences. The example below uses parallelism (as explained above) but it also uses short sentences/ clauses to create a rhythm that emulates a child-like perspective.

"In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. "- The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

 In the example below, Sandra Cisneros uses the word "and" repeatedly without the final comma in the series which gives the story a rhythm. She breaks the supposed "rule" on purpose to create this effect and to create a child-like character.

"Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger. This is how they keep." -The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Other forms of writing, like rap, poetry or writing written in different English dialects follow different rules. Tupac Shakur uses Black English in his raps since African American youth was his major audience and was commonly use in the mainstream. Below he uses "best", where "better" would typically be used, bur Black English often times uses different tenses depending on the situation.

"My mama always used to tell me: 'If you can't find somethin' to live for, you best find somethin' to die for. - Something To Die For by Tupac Shakur

SENTENCE PATTERNS

Sentence patterns are the ways in which writers vary their sentence structures, grammar, and word choice. It is crucial for writers to vary their sentence patterns in order to maintain their audience's attention and build interest over your topic of choice. Sentence variation is also a great means of  setting the tone, especially in scenes. The excerpt below sets up the moment when the main character gets hit by a car. The multiple clauses connected by a comma speed up the pace while the final short simple sentence creates a sudden halt. It allows the author to rhetorically stop time for their reader.

"The last thing he sees is a leather glove, a face under a helmet, the shock in the man's eyes mirroring his own. There is an explosion as everything fragments. And then there is nothing. - Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

The use of short simple sentences below create a sort of dialogue that reflects a stream of conciousness for the character speaking. While it begins with a spontaneous idea it uses a short-long-short structure. By finishing it with a final two word clause after the colon it directs the reader to the pinnacle of the narrators realization.

She was beautiful, too. That’s almost secondary; but still, she was. When she came to New York fresh from Kansas, she worked part-time as a model though she was too uneasy in front of the camera to be very good at it; whatever she had, it didn’t translate to film. And yet she was wholly herself: a rarity.- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The long-short sentence variation below helps the author develop their argument into condensed and simplified points through the use of short sentences. It structures the writing like an upside down triangle which allows them to move from a broader concept to a more narrow one, and which allows their reader to follow them easier.

"They bloom like roses, I continue because it's obvious I'm the only one who can speak with any authority; I have science on my side. The bones just open. Just like that. One day you might decide to have kids, and then where are you going to put them? Got to have room. Bones got to give." - The House On Mango Street