IF Napolean had said… Another word for parallelism. Parallelism is a rhetorical device that compounds words or phrases that have equivalent meanings so as to create a definite pattern. Parallelism is considered as a greater perspective tool. Parallelism in Literature To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Parallelism in Songs Ordinary People by John Legend "There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County." For example, on reading: By convention, items in a series appear in parallel grammatical form: a noun is listed with other nouns, an -ing form with other -ing forms, and so on. Parallelism in literature is also important. When Charles Dickens wrote the opening sentence to A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he was employing a literary tool called parallelism that seeks to balance the sound, meaning, or meter of a sentence for deliberate effect. Parallelism in Literature Apart from everyday speech, parallel structures are also apparent in various forms of literature, such as short stories, famous novels, and other narratives. Parallelism often either juxtaposes contrasting images or ideas so as to show their stark difference, or joins similar concepts to show their connection. Parallelism refers to placing similarly structured elements in apposition to one another in a given sentence, so as to make it sound better and easier to understand. In grammar, parallelism means that the words in a sentence or a paragraph are balanced and have a similar structure. Learn more. You may have heard this quote attributed to Julius Caesar:. Parallelism is the usage of repeating words and forms to give pattern and rhythm to a passage in literature. Using the same words (“of times”) adds balance and rhythm that can make the words more persuasive and impactful. These "parallel" elements can be used to intensify the rhythm of language, or to draw a comparison, emphasize, or elaborate on an idea. Parallelism. Parallelism is the repetition of similar grammatical forms. Antithesis is a kind of parallelism in which two opposite ideas are put together in parallel structures. Explore each device in depth through literature. Many literature students find these two devices to be similar. Reception is used to emphasize the similarity of objects or their differences. Parallelism or parallel structure of sentences can often be observed in literature and poetry. Routledge, 2002) Using parallel structure in writing. However, there is a distinct difference between repetition and parallelism. The main difference between repetition and parallelism is that repetition focuses more on the semantics whereas parallelism focuses more on syntax. parallelism definition: 1. the use of matching sentence structure, phrases, or longer parts so as to balance ideas of equal…. In grammar, parallelism, also known as parallel structure or parallel construction, is a balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure. One of the most famous uses of this device in literature is the opening sentence of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. Parallelism in literature makes readers attracted to the sentences because of its repetitive nature. This structure is particularly effective when "specifying or enumerating pairs or series of like things". You can see from the above examples that parallelism uses the same sentence constructs like nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Parallelism in Literature. Often times, faulty parallelism is … Published on May 2, 2019 by Amy Luo. Use it wisely, and you will be rewarded with clear and compelling sentences that are fun to write and read! Parallelism remains a popular technique in poetry, prose, and plays. It lends a rhythm, a refinement to what is being written and helps avoid repetition. Therefore, it is definitely a great tool in literature, which helps to increase the number of readers.For example the quote " I came, I saw and I conquered ". Find more ways to say parallelism, along with related words, antonyms and example phrases at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. "Several studies have shown that in conjoined structures, even without ellipsis, parallelism of many types is helpful to the processor, in that the second conjunct is easier to process if it is parallel to the first in some way .