Parallelism is a technique used by writers and speakers to structure similar clauses, sentences, and words in a consistent way for a smoother flow and greater impact. Defective or faulty parallelism can distract from the desired effect. Successive stacking of similarly structured sentences can build up to a powerful climax.
Parallelism is a practice used by speakers or writers to structure similar clauses, sentences, words, and sentences in a similar way in their prose or speech. This allows the speaker or writer to maintain consistency in their work, allowing for a smoother flow. Additionally, it can help make a speech or writing more persuasive due to the repetition it employs. When speakers or writers string together several constructions that might be parallel in nature but instead take many different forms, it is known as defective parallelism.
If someone is writing a piece of prose, they can engage the reader with the power of the words on the page. Similarly, public speakers try to get the desired reaction from their listeners by stringing their words together in such a way that their point is emphatic and clear. Disjointed and cumbersome speech or prose will only distract listeners and readers from the desired effect. Consequently, it is always a good idea to sprinkle examples of parallelism into a long speech or piece of prose.
In a sentence, parallelism can occur whenever a certain construction is repeated. For example, similar sentences can be repeated, as in the sentence “The dog ran into the room, into the garden and into our hearts.” It can also occur when two or more similarly structured clauses are repeated, as in the sentence “When it was necessary, whatever was required, I was willing to do it.”
There are instances where the possibility exists for this technique but writers and speakers fail to recognize it. When this occurs, it is known as faulty parallelism. Imagine a speaker who says, “I can do this by working hard, running late many nights, and putting in the extra effort.” Modifying this sentence can help achieve greater cohesion. The speaker might say, “I can do that by working hard, staying late, and putting in the extra effort.”
It is also possible to achieve parallelism in a longer piece of prose or rhetoric by successively stacking similarly structured sentences on top of each other. Not only can this technique draw attention to the point of the work, but it can also engage the intended audience. Each time this method is used, the power of all similar constructions builds up to a powerful climax with the final part. In addition to gaining cohesion, the writer or speaker can also gain impact.
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