Parallel structure is one of the quickest and easiest ways to make a good impression on your readers, especially experienced readers and writers, because the use of parallel structure is always obvious.  As a reader I always look for parallel structure at the end of the first paragraph in five-paragraph essay.  Consider a topic such as "air pollution in Denver, Colorado, USA."  If you want to write about the "causes of air pollution" (the controlling statement), your sentence at the end of the introduction could be "...so the objective of this paper is discuss the three main causes of air pollution in Denver which are (1) exhaust from automobiles, (2) soot from industry smokestacks, and (3) smoke from wood burning fireplaces."  (Exhaust, soot, and smoke are all nouns which is parallel structure, but in this case, parallel structure is even more effective because the nouns are all followed by prepositional phrases.

While the following examples require just one word and are relatively easy, look for parallel structure when you read because it is used frequently among experienced writers.

1.  The children are energetic and noisy.  = adjective + adjective
2.  She bought a skirt and a blouse. = noun + noun
3.  He walked slowly and confidently to the witness stand.  = adverb + adverb
4.  Swimming and hiking are my favorite summer activities.  = gerund + gerund

Exercise:  Complete the following sentences using parallel structure.

1.  Having no job or _____, the student had to drop out of school.

2.  Because I used a computer to do my research paper, I could easily correct spelling errors, move paragraphs around to achieve better organization, and _____.

3.  While I was in college, I worked as a waitress, as a typist, and _____.

4.  He is a man known for his integrity and _____.

5.  Because he was ill and _____, the auto worker left his job.

6.  The professor walked through the door, looked at the students, and _____.

7.  A farmer spends his life tilling the soil, sowing the seeds, and _____.

8.  I was surprised to discover that in person the rock star was warm, friendly, unassuming and _____.

Look for some online quizzes about some more difficult parallel structure questions soon.

MORE:  To see a brilliant authentic example of parallel structure, click HERE.

MORE:  To see my own examples of parallel structure, click HERE.

Video containing parallel Structure:  In just five minutes, this video of big wave surfer, Laird Hamilton at Teahupoo, Tahiti, contains MANY examples of parallel structure, examples like "...wave so treacherous, so outrageous," "...wave so powerful, cylindrical," "...in its unfathomable mass, power, ferocity."  I have shown this clip in my face-to-face classes since it was done, August 2000.  This clip is at youtube requiring high speed connection.

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