Using Parallel Structure

Parallel Structure (Rules for Writers, 116-119)

As the OWL website clarifies, a parallelism is when you have a list or multiple ideas that are presented in the same pattern, same basic syntactical structure.

Here are a few things to consider about your sentences that have lists (or could use a list) or that present multiple ideas:

• verb forms should match (especially in a list)
• clauses should have matching word patterns
• correlative expressions also need to be edited (check the link)

Furthermore, Towson University up in Baltimore has a great breakdown for how to identify and work on parallel structure. 

How can knowing and working on parallel structure help me out?!?

• A strong parallel made within a thesis statement can outline your entire essay body.

• Besides using the structure for thesis statements, the technique is good to use for:

•  outlining multiple reasons or examples within a body paragraph
• reiterating in a conclusion the points made in an essay (especially if you didn't use the same structure in the introduction/thesis)

• Example 1: I look at food as necessary for survival but hard to come by.

• Example 2: Food defines religious beliefs for some, expresses artistic views for others, and nurtures the body for everyone.

• notice how the verbs match in form, and the objects have the same pattern

• Example 3: Grams' favorite arugula farro rissto can be made in three easy stages: dicing up the tomato and herbs, cooking the farro down in broth, and adding arugula and lemon mixture before serving.  (Each of these stages has steps within to cover, and each stage represents a body paragraph.)

Grammar Aside, How Does Effective Parallelism Impact My Writing?

• You can organize your main idea(s) in a sentence list that gives you directions for each paragraph to follow. Organization!!!

• Critiquing your list allows you to push for more complex ideas instead of one-word points.

• Critiquing your list allows you to better understand how ideas have a relationship with each others; hence, you can use the list to help shape better paragraph transitions. 

• Focus. You and reader can more clearly see how a subject has multiple ideas attached to it. Thus, you can more effectively unify a paragraph around one of those ideas (and save the others for future paragraphs in the essay).