English Pointers: Parallelism & More

Parallelism

• Parallelism enhances writing fluidity and strength through consistent structure in similar parts of sentences.
• Creates rhythm, improves clarity, and emphasizes key ideas.
• Examples of parallel structures include:
  • Verbs: “I like reading, writing, and swimming.” vs. “I like to read, writing, and to swim.”
  • Nouns: "We need more time, more resources, and more support.” vs. “We need more time, resources, and support."
  • Adjectives: "The movie was exciting, funny, and touching." vs. “The movie was exciting, it was funny, and touching.”
  • Adverbs: "He ran quickly, spoke loudly, and acted bravely." vs. "He ran quick, spoke loud, and bravely acted."
• Employed for gerunds, noun phrases, verb phrases, adverbial phrases, gerund phrases, and infinitive phrases with consistent structure.

Types of Clauses

• Independent Clause: Contains a subject and verb, presents a complete thought, e.g., “I enjoy playing soccer.”
• Dependent Clause: Lacks a complete thought, cannot stand alone, e.g., “Although it was raining.”
• Noun Clauses: Act as nouns, can be subjects or complements, e.g., “What she said surprised everyone.”
• Adjective Clauses: Describe nouns, often start with relative pronouns, e.g., “The book that you gave me was fascinating.”
• Adverb Clauses: Modify verbs/adjectives/adverbs, indicate time, place, reason, etc., e.g., “I’ll call you when I get home.”

Cohesive Devices

• Transitional words connect ideas, improving clarity, flow, and coherence in writing.
• Conjunctions: Connect clauses and sentences (e.g., "and," "but," "or").
• Pronouns: Replace nouns to eliminate repetition (e.g., "he," "she," "it").
• Adverbials: Offer additional context about actions (e.g., "however," "therefore").
• Lexical Cohesion: Utilizes related words or phrases for linkage (e.g., synonyms, antonyms).
• Referencing: Employs words like “this,” “that,” or “those” for clarity.
• Substitution: Replaces words/phrases to avoid redundancy (e.g., “I have a car. It’s a fast one.”).
• Transitions: Guide readers through text, indicating relationships between ideas (e.g., "first," "finally").

Functions of Cohesive Devices

• Clarity: They elucidate the relationships between ideas.
• Flow: Enhance the overall readability and transition in writing.
• Coherence: Establish logical connections between sentences and paragraphs.

Specific Transition Types

• Transition words can represent sequencing (e.g., "first," "next," "finally"), locations (e.g., "above," "below," "there"), and comparisons/contrasts (e.g., "likewise," "on the contrary," "however").

Mood Speech

• Mood speeches aim to evoke specific emotions in the audience, influencing their reaction and perception of the message.
• Emotions can span joy, sadness, excitement, anger, or inspiration.
• Focus on describing physiological, mental, and social aspects of emotions rather than just words.

Additional Cohesive Devices

• Exemplification: Provides examples (e.g., "for instance," "such as").
• Concession: Acknowledges opposing views (e.g., "although it is true that," "granted that").