Parallel Structures

Parallel structures• What is a parallel structure?

– Refers to identical grammatical structures that add rhythm and balance to images (Noden, 2011).

– Adds musical quality that adds emphasis and sound to central images (Noden, 2011).

– Example: • Season 1 (1959–1960)

– There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.• —Rod Serling

Examples

• Between the past and the future, between sanity and madness, between dreams and reality, lies the mystery of the 12 monkeys. (Universal Studios)

• Between what can be seen and what must be feared, between what lives and what never dies, between the light of truth and the darkness of evil, lies the future of terror. (Universal Studios)

Types

• Literal repetition– Repeating the exact same thing over and over

throughout• Grammatical repetition– Using the same structure throughout

• Literal and grammatical repetition– Using both

Literal repetition• Dear big brother,• Remember the day I borrowed your brand new car and I dented

it? I thought you'd kill me, but you didn't. And remember the time I dragged you to the beach, and you said it would rain, and it did? I thought you'd say, "I told you so." But you didn't. Do you remember the time I spilled strawberry pie all over your car rug? I thought you'd hit me, but you didn't. And remember the time I forgot to tell you the wedding was formal and you showed up in jeans? I thought you'd yell at me, but you didn't. Yes, there were lots of things you didn't do, But you put up with me, and you loved me, and you protected me. There were lots of things I wanted to make up to you when you returned from Iraq.

• Sincerely, ...but you didn't.

Literal repetition

• I talked more quickly—more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key with gesticulations, but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observation of the men—but the noise steadily increased – “The Tell-tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe

Literal repetition

• Examples from students: – It was all so clear now. She knew who had killed Sylvia. It

was someone who hated her, someone who had been a friend of hers, someone who never forgave her for how she had treated him, someone from high school, someone who knew her old nickname was Syl. It was Bruce Crystal!

– Every day some kid makes a big name for himself in high school or college, but only the best make it to the NFL. Only the best of the best make it to the Hall of Fame. And running backs are a breed apart, lone warriors facing minefields of destruction and in this dog-eat-dog league, only the best survive.

Name: ____________________Parallel Structure Activity

• Choose a “zone”• The Sports Zone• The Political Zone• The Nature Zone• The School Zone• The Music Zone• The Crime Zone• The Friendship Zone• The Vampire Zone• The Movie Zone• The Cafeteria Zone• The Love Zone• The Forest Zone• The Car Wash Zone• The Skateboard Zone• The Math Zone• The Television Zone• Any other zone you can think of or want to try

• Use the outline to fill in the parallel structures, using YOUR zone.

The ________________ ZoneThere is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as ____________ as _________________ and as _____________________ as __________________. It is the ____________ ____________between ____________________ and _______________, between __________________________ and ________________________, and it lies between the _________________________ of ___________ ____________, and the ______________ of his/her ________________. This is the dimension of _______________________. It is an area which we call…. THE _______________ ZONE.

• Original: There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

Literal Parallel Structures ExamplesStill I Rise by Maya Angelou You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise.

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise.

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tideLeaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

• [i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]• BY E. E. CUMMINGS

i carry your heart with me(i carry it inmy heart)i am never without it(anywherei go you go,my dear;and whatever is doneby only me is your doing,my darling) i fearno fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i wantno world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meantand whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows(here is the root of the root and the bud of the budand the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which growshigher than soul can hope or mind can hide)and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Grammatical Repetition

• Subtler than literal repetition

• Harder to identify unless you are listening for them.

• It uses same grammatical structure

• Listen to the example…– Page 59

• Listen for the similar pattern?

Example two

• Ambition inspired his journey. Nature changed his destiny.

• What pattern did they use?

Best way to use parallel structure

• Most frequently, these are combined. Combining literal and grammatical repetitions make the most emphasis on your reader.

• In his nightmares, he can see them. In his mind, he can hear them. In his soul he can feel them. Now in earth's darkest hour, hum must fight them again. (Ad for the film First Contact)

Listen to this Adhttp://youtu.be/jiyIcz7wUH0

You may contribute a verseO Me! O Life!BY WALT WHITMANOh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.That you are here—that life exists and identity,That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

Can you find any examples of parallel structure in the poem or the advertisement?

Grammatical Repetition

• “But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” Gettysburg Address-Abraham Lincoln

E.B. White• Look at the following drafts written by E. B. White, author of Stuart Little

and Charlotte’s Web, and note the differences between his two drafts of an article for the New Yorker. In the second draft he incorporates parallel structure.

• First Draft:“The moon still influences the tides and the tides lap on every shore,

right around the globe. The moon still belongs to lovers, and lovers are everywhere-not just

in America.”

• Final Draft:“Like every great river and every great sea, the moon belongs to none and belongs to all. It still holds the key to madness, still controls the tides that lap on shores everywhere, still guards the lovers who kiss in every land under no banner but the sky."

Jack Prelutsky’s The Werewolf• The full moon glows, foreboding,

And I quake from head to feet.For this night I know, in the town below,A werewolf prowls the street.

He stalks with stealth and cunningIn his search for a soul to eat.With matted hair, and jaws that tear,A werewolf prowls the street.

His face is filled with furyAs his brain cries out for meat.And, oh, his prey shall not see dayFor the werewolf prowls the street.

So I shake beneath my coversAnd I shiver in my sheets,And I cower in my bed, with a pillow on my head,As the werewolf prowls the street.

Songs

• Poetry and songs use parallel structure a lot. Look at these examples from songs:

• Say something, I'm giving up on youI'll be the one, if you want me toAnywhere I would've followed youSay something, I'm giving up on you

• Literal or grammatical?

More songs

• Don’t let them in, don’t let them seeBe the good girl you always have to beConceal, don’t feel, don’t let them knowWell, now they know

Let it go, let it goCan’t hold it back anymoreLet it go, let it goTurn away and slam the door

• Where is the grammatical repetition?

More songs

• 'Cause you only need the light when it's burning lowOnly miss the sun when it starts to snowOnly know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling lowOnly hate the road when you're missin' homeOnly know you love her when you let her go

• Grammatical? Literal?

Poems

• The Raven: Listen and see if you can pick out the literal and grammatical repetition.

• http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15638

Writing poems

• Write a poem, topic is your choice. • It can be a scary poem, a poem about love, a poem about

strength, a poem about nature, a poem about your favorite movie; it can be about anything you choose.

• It needs to be at least 12 lines in length. • It does NOT have to rhyme. It can, but doesn’t have to.

• Use literal repetition in it at least 3 times. • Use grammatical repetition in it at least 3 times.

• When you’ve finished writing your poem, underline your literal repetition in red.

• Underline your grammatical repetition in pencil.

Two-Voice Poems

• Read a two-voice poem. • How does parallel structure enhance the

poem? • Choose a poem to present to the class. • Practice your poem. • Read your poem to the class. • Graded on emotion and clearly enunciating

the words in the poem so we can hear it.

Writing Two-voice poems

• Choose two topics that either go well together (peanut butter and jelly; clouds and rain; baseball and glove; shoes and socks; etc.)

• Or choose two topics that are opposites (light and dark; day and night; love and hate; dogs and cats; summer and winter; etc.)

Writing Two-voice poems

• Brainstorm how the two topics are different/similar in a Venn-diagram or top-hat chart.

Activity

• Use the sentence frames and write your own parallel structures.

Activity• Activity; Old cabin• Close your eyes. Picture a cabin in the woods. • You’re going to try to create some sensory images of the cabin you just

pictured. • Instead of adding additional sentences, you’re going to expand the basic

sentence by adding details created with a rhythm of repeated prepositions or clauses:

• Like this: • The old cabin made me feel close to nature.

• Example one: The old cabin with its rustic stone fireplace, with its handsome log furniture, with its view of Lake Tahoe, made me feel close to nature.

• Example two: When I awoke to the aroma of burnt fire logs, when I looked out the window and saw the morning fog roll across the lake, when I felt the slight chill of the mountain air, the old cabin made me feel close to nature.