Parallel Construction

Parallel construction (5) is a device which may be encoun­tered not so much in the sentence as in the macro-structures. The necessary condition in par­allel construction is identical, or similar, syntactical structure in two or more sentences or parts of a sentence in close succession:

"There were real silver spoons to stir the tea with, and real china cups to drink it out of, and plates of the same to hold the cakes and toast in". (Dickens)

Parallel constructions are backed up by repetition of words (lexical repetition) and conjunctions and prepositions (polysyndeton). Pure parallel construction does not depend on any other kind of repetition but the repetition of the syntactical design of the sentence.

. Parallel constructions may be partial or complete. Partial parallel arrangement is the repetition of some parts of successive sentences or clauses:

"It is the mob that labour in your fields and serve in your houses—that man your navy and recruit your army,—that have ena­bled you to defy all the world, and can also defy you when neglect and calamity have driven them to despair." (Byron)

Complete parallel arrangement, also called baIance, maintains the principle of identical structures throughout the corresponding sen­tences:

"The seeds ye sow — another reaps,

The robes ye weave—another wears,

The arms ye forge—another bears.

Parallel construction is most frequently used in enumeration, an­tithesis and in climax, thus consolidating the general effect achieved by these stylistic devices.

In the following example parallelism backs up repetition, allitera­tion and antithesis.

"And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,

And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot." (Shakespeare)

In this example, parallel construction backs up the rhetorical address and rhetorical questions. The emotional aspect is also enforced by the interjection 'Heaven!'

"Hear me, my mother Earth! behold it, Heaven!—

Have I not had to wrestle with my lot?

Have I not suffered things to be forgiven?

Have I not had my brain seared, my heart riven,

Hopes, sapped, name blighted, Life's life lied away?" (Byron)

In some cases parallelism emphasizes the similarity and equates the significance of the parts:

"Our senses perceive no extremes. Too much sound deafens us; too much light dazzles us; too great distance or proximity hinders our view."

In other cases parallel construction emphasizes diversity and con­trast of ideas.

The device of parallelism generates rhythm, inasmuch as similar syntactical structures repeat in close succession. Parallel construction should be used in poetical structures.

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