A Self Made of Words: Crafting a Distinctive Persona in Nonfiction Writing

Parallelism

62 } Corresponding ideas expressed in corresponding form—that’s the basic principle of parallelism. It may be as brief as a pair of words—“I adore and admire her.” Or it might take form in a pair of phrases—“I deplore his greed and despise his grandiosity.” Or it might include a pair of clauses—“He longed for her so much that he lusted after her.” In most of these cases, the corresponding form manifests itself not only in word for word correspondence , but also in matching sounds in the corresponding words, such as “adore”/“admire,” “deplore . . . greed” / “despise . . . grandiosity,” “longed for” / “lusted after.” The result is a forceful emphasis of the corresponding ideas and the projection of a self in command of language and ideas.Though the basic principle is quite simple, the stylistic technique of parallelism can be used in a wide variety of contexts, from echoing in a series of phrases within a single sentence, as in John F. Kennedy’s inaugural declaration—“We shall payany price, bearany burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty”—to recurring at the beginning of several clauses or sentences, as it often does in the Psalms—“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside Parallelism { 63 the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Indeed, it can be used to resound throughout entire paragraphs or sustain a theme through thewholeofan essayor sermon, as it does in Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream.” As these examples suggest, parallelism is a recurrent feature of political and religious texts, not only because it compels the attention of readers and listeners but also because it highlights key ideas. And it is a vivid mark of eloquence in the person who uses it appropriately, because the capacity to select and arrange words in patterns corresponding to related ideas suggests the presence of a highly articulate and thoughtful person. Parallelism is not only an important stylistic feature in and of itself, but it also provides the structure that is essential in otherelements of style, such as balance, serial constructions, and periodic sentences, which follow. So it’s especially important that you develop the skill of expressing corresponding ideas in the corresponding form of parallelism. Here, for example, is a version in parallel form of the first paragraph of my vertigo piece: It all started on a winter night after an ordinary day some five years ago, after I got into bed and rested my head on the pillow. I noticed the room starting to move slowly, then more quickly, until it was soon speeding rapidly around in a circle. Such a rapid and ceaseless movement that it made me as dizzy as if I was spinning and spinning myself. I tried to resist the movement by looking intently at the dresser across from my bed. But the dresser itself, like the picture 64 } hanging above it, the mementos sitting on top of it, and the carpet sitting below it, was also moving along with the room. In writing this version, I found that the necessity to put things in parallel form led me to focus more than before on specific narrative and descriptive details that I could itemize in balanced structures, as in the first sentence , or serial constructions, as in the concluding sentence . So I hope you will find similar payoffs by rewriting a paragraph from your memorable experience in parallel form. ...