Parallelism
Literary term · say it PAIR-uh-lel-iz-um
Parallelism is the use of matching grammatical patterns in nearby words, phrases, or sentences. It gives ideas a shared rhythm and helps readers notice similarities, contrasts, or a growing list of points.
Where parallelism appears
Balanced statements
Two or more statements follow the same grammatical pattern. The matching shapes can link similar ideas or sharpen a contrast.
At the opening of A Tale of Two Cities, the narrator describes the age through pairs of opposing claims about its wisdom, foolishness, hope, and despair. Their matching patterns hold the contradictions together.
In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Matching questions
A series of questions follows a similar structure. Each question adds another point while keeping the same steady rhythm.
In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock challenges the mistreatment of Jews with a series of questions about the physical traits and human responses they share with Christians. The repeated question patterns press his argument forward.
In The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
How to spot parallelism
- Look for nearby phrases or sentences with matching grammatical shapes.
- Compare the words that change within those patterns.
- Notice whether the pattern connects ideas, contrasts them, or builds emphasis.
What is the difference between parallelism and repetition?
Parallelism repeats a grammatical pattern, while repetition can repeat any word, sound, phrase, or idea. A passage can use both at once, but parallelism does not require identical words: different words can fill the same sentence shape.
What is the difference between parallelism and antithesis?
Parallelism concerns matching grammatical patterns, while antithesis places opposing ideas together. They often work together because matching patterns make a contrast easy to follow. Parallelism can also connect similar ideas, so it does not always involve opposition.
Related terms
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