Definition and example of parallelism in literature

Definition of Parallelism

Parallelism is the usage of repeating words and forms to give pattern and rhythm to a passage in literature. Parallelism often either juxtaposes contrasting images or ideas so as to show their stark difference, or joins similar concepts to show their connection.

Authors often create parallelism through the use of other literary devices, such as anaphora, epistrophe, antithesis, and asyndeton. Parallelism encompasses all these possibilities of repetition and contrast.

The definition of parallelism can also refer to a grammatical construct, which we use commonly in everyday speech, for example “She enjoys gardening and cooking” instead of “She enjoys gardening and to cook.” The grammatical parallelism in the former sentence is a matter of using two gerunds instead of the second sentence’s use of one gerund and one infinitive.

Most English speakers thus use grammatical parallelism all the time without realizing it.

Common Examples of Parallelis