Transcript Parallelism and Repetition in Writing

Bellwork/Journal
O Explain something in your life is balaned.
O Ex. My homework is balanced with my free
time. My family time is balanced with my
free time.
Parallelism and
Repetition in Writing
What is Parallelism?
O There needs to be balance in whatever you
say.
O Think of a see-saw. If one person is heavier
than the other, the see-saw is tilted. But if
both people are the same weight, the seesaw will stay in a straight line.
O What could this have to do with English?
Parallelism in Writing.
O Parallelism is simply using the same pattern
of words and word endings to show that the
items in a sentence have equal levels of
importance.
O A good writer uses parallelism to make clear
sentences that flow well.
Some Proper Uses of
Parallelism
O Ex. He learned three thing: shooting,
passing, and dribbling. -verb-verb-verb
O Ex. A good coach must learn to
communicate with players, to organize a
schedule, and to handle adversity.
-Infinitive-infinitive-infinitive
O My sister decided that she would study
caching techniques and that she would work
with the youth basketball league. -helping
verb/verb-helping verb/verb
Poor Uses of Parallelism
O He learned three things: shooting, passing,
and how to dribble.
O A good coach must learn to communicate
with players, to organize a schedule, and
adversity.
O My sister decided that she would study
coaching techniques and to work with the
youth basketball leagues.
Some notes on Parallelism.
O Parallel structure in writing is a just a perfect
balance in a sentence.
O It gives a sentence rhythm and power.
O It creates syntax (sentence structure that
flows).
O Parallelism keeps a sentence balanced
because these elements are grammatically
equal: nouns are paired with nouns, verbs
with verbs, and so forth.
More examples
O He had a toy gun, a hat, and a belt. –noun-
noun-noun
O She fought, kicked, and screamed. Verbverb-verb.
Parallelism cont.
O In your groups, one member come up with a
sentence that displays poor parallelism and
the other should try and correct the
sentence.
Repetition in writing.
O Along with Parallelism, you will often see
repetition.
O Repetition is simply repeating a sentence,
line, or word for a positive effect on the
reader.
O It drives the point home better than just
saying it once, and balances the sentence.
O An example might be a poet, or singer,
repeating certain words for emotion.
Uses of Repetition
O Repetition is used a lot in advertising.
O Ex. Right Store, Right Price-Kroger.
O Ex. Good Time-Good Taste (This is an old
McDonald’s commercial Mr. Bowen told me
about! Wonder how old it is?)
O http://youtu.be/cwhjud3HQ54
Real World Applications of
Parallelism and Repetition.
O As stated earlier, Repetition comes in handy
in advertising.
O Speeches also use a lot of Repetition and
Parallelism to cause an emotional response.
O Let’s take a look at excerpts from Martin
Luther King, Jr.’s speech.