There are examples of repetition and parallelism in Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream.
Would we still remember Martin Luther King, Jr. if he didn't use parallel structure in his speeches?
Yes.That is not the point.In honor of the great Reverend, we are going to explore a cornerstone of good writing: parallel structure.
A pattern of words in a related pair or series is called parallel structure.This is easy to see in the famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
One day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves will be able to sit at the table with their former slave owners.
I have a dream that one day the state of Mississippi will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice because of the heat of injustice.
One of the most famous examples of parallelism in written history is the repetition of "I have a dream that..."It is so common that I am embarrassed to use it here.I need a post about how rap is just hip poetry, and I will be an English teacher in every high school in the country.Teachers who say that rappers are just modern Shakespeares have never read the lyrics to "Like a G6."
It is not always easy to spot or correct parallelism in our own writing.Writers get tripped up when it is much more subtle.For example, take a line from King's speech.
We will be able to work together, pray, struggle, go to jail, and stand up for freedom with this faith.
The items in the list must be parallel to each other in order for a writer to make a list.King creates parallelism when he repeats infinitive phrases.His ideas, no matter how powerful, would be lost in his mangled verbs if he had written, "We will be able to work together, to pray, struggling, and we can go to jail together."
1.Don't mix forms.The sentence "Bobby likes swimming, running, and biking" is a correct parallel sentence because all of his verbals end with -ing.The forms do not match, so "Bobby likes swimming, running, and to bike" is not correct.
2.Don't mix forms.There will be issues with parallelism in a simple list.When repeating a clause, you must maintain parallel structure.
Bobby was told that he was an amazing biker and that his swimming was superb.
Correct, Bobby was told that his swimming, running, and biking were amazing.
3.Don't mix forms.A sentence can't be switched between active and passive because of the subject's voice.
4.Don't mix forms.Don't mix past and present with present and future with your verbs, all of them should be in the same tense.
You don't need to know what an infinitive phrase or gerund is to check your writing for parallelism.If you have a list of things, make sure they are similar and parallel to each other.It is important that you describe your job skills in a parallel way on your resume.As a sandwich artist, I oversaw the counter, cared for customers, and created art.
If you can't fly, run.If you can't run, walk.If you can't walk, crawl.You have to keep moving forward regardless of what you do.
I keep it gangsta', poppin' bottles at the crib.
I am impressed by your ability to combine wit and advice.Excellent writing!It is a tad harsh to assume that all high school English instructors would place Ja-Rule in the same literary category as the bard himself.Some of us should be given some credit.