Parallelism breakdowns: Part II clauses

Review:  Parallelism normally occurs in lists and uses the same verb endings. 

Good example: He wasn't going to worry, cry, or dream of the life he was leaving behind.

Bad example: He wasn't going to worry, begin crying, or dream of the life he was leaving behind.

In this bad example, the format and rhythm of the list is broken by changing the form of the verb.

2. clauses   Clauses are larger groups of words or ideas. They commonly are called phrases, and while technically not phrases, they have similar characteristics. Many clauses make up a paragraph, or a major part of a paragraph. The difficulty is that when writing in longer lengths of text, we forget what format (parallelism) we are using, and as our thoughts converge, we tend to change our rhythm and tense.

Bad example: The manager motioned to the door and said, "You can decide to pick up a broom and begin sweeping, wrangle with the issue in your mind until nevermore comes, or decide to give up because it isn't worth it."

The difficulty with "wrangle with the issue" is that it breaks the rhythm and verb "voice."

The phrase should start like the others, "decide to...(verb)."

Good example: The manager motioned to the door and said, "You can decide to pick up a broom and begin sweeping, decide on the issue in your mind until nevermore comes, or decide to give up because it isn't worth it."

Parallelism hints:

·        Is used in lists of words and clauses

·        check for conjunctions (and, or ) because they could indicate a list is being used

·        check within paragraphs and longer sentences because it is forgotten with longer sections of text

·        keep the rhythm, format, and verb tense the same

Leyton Roberts

Copyright 2009