Purpose:
A balanced, or parallel, sentence could be used by an author to support the structure and flow of the work. A balanced sentence is a clear and concise sentence structure that should be used by authors in order to enhance the readability of their pieces. A balanced sentence is a very regularly seen sentence because the order of the parts of speech makes a lot of logical sense. Balanced sentences are also sometimes used to compare two items while keeping the two clauses practically identical or as a list for multiple activities.
Steps for Analysis:
When reading a piece of writing, it is very common for an author to use a balanced sentence because it enhances and assists the flow of the piece. To identify a balanced sentence one should examine and compare the clauses. If the clauses are parallel in length and structure then the sentence would be classified as a balanced sentence. To further unpack the use of this sentence structure consider how a balanced sentence helps the reader comprehend the material. Think about how the sentence’s legibility would be different if the structure of the sentence was rearranged into a different format. A reader could also ask “why is it convenient for the author to use a balanced sentence here?” or “is a balanced sentence best suited for this situation?” and other questions that discuss the context of the text.
Example from The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell
“Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it.”
Analysis of Passage:
In this example of a balanced sentence, the context of this sentence is a quote from a previous discussion. The speaker, who James Boswell identifies as a clergyman, uses a balanced sentence when speaking because it is very easy to comprehend. This sentence is concise and straightforward to understand. The speaker would choose this specific arrangement of words because it is the most conducive for thorough communication with his audience. Any other word combination or arrangement could add confusion about the subject of the sentence.
In this balanced sentence, we can see the two clauses “Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth” and “every other man has a right to knock him down for it” which make the subject very clear. These two clauses have pretty much identical structures, especially with the parallelism for “every man” and “a right” this repetition is actually very useful for comparisons between two statements. In this case, the balanced sentence here represents how a person thinks and how people subconsciously make connections when they are speaking.
Boswell, James. Life of Johnson. Edited by Charles Grosvenor Osgood. The Project Gutenberg,
www.gutenberg.org/files/1564/1564-h/1564-h.htm. Accessed 6 Sept. 2022.