Chapter 10

P 156- 171

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INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, you will learn to use parallel structure to add symmetry
and style to your sentences. Parallelism is an important element in
English writing, especially when you are listing or comparing and
contrasting items or ideas. Parallelism means that each item in a list or in
a comparison follows the same grammatical pattern. For example, if you
are writing a list and the first item in your list is a noun, you write all the
other items as nouns also. Or if the first item is an -ing word, you make
all the others-ing words.
You will also learn to recognize and repair common sentence problems:
fragments, run-ons, comma splices, and choppy or stringy sentences. At
the end of this chapter, you will write a paragraph that uses parallelism
and avoids these common sentence problems.

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ANALYZING THE MODEL Ghalia Al mubarak

The writing model is about Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computer.
The model contains several examples of parallelism. Writing Model
Read the model. Then answer the questions.
.

Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computer, was (1) both a
brilliant computer specialist and a savvy businessman. His
company has been responsible for a number of popular products,
including (2) the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. These products
(3) not only have sold well, but also have changed the way people
think about computers. In part because of the influence of Apple
and Jobs, people began to (4) listen to computerized music files,
carry phones that could play songs while sending email, and
access the Internet from almost anywhere.
ANALYZING THE MODEL Ghalia Al mubarak

The writing model is about Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computer.
The model contains several examples of parallelism. Writing Model
Read the model. Then answer the questions.
.

A few decades ago, individuals worked on

desktop computers, but they did not play
games or chat with friends on them.
Nowadays, it is hard to imagine a time
when computers were not part of our daily
lives. However, many people believe that,
without Steve Jobs, personal computing
might not have become so ingrained in
everything we do.
Questions
about the 1. Which number identifies two different
Model types of individual?

2. Which number identifies two different

types of accomplishment?

3. Which number identifies a list of products?

4. Which number identifies a list of activities

that people can do?

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Questions
1. Which number identifies two different
about the types of individual? 1
Model
2. Which number identifies two different
types of accomplishment? 3

3. Which number identifies a list of products?

2

4. Which number identifies a list of activities

that people can do? 4

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 PARALLEL STRUCTURE IN
SENTENCES
In order to make your NOT PARALLEL PARALLE
writing easier to read, you
need to follow certain rules. My English
My English conversation class is
One of these rules is called conversation class is
made up of Chinese, Spanish, and
parallelism. In these made up of Chinese,
Bosnian students.
examples, the sentences in Spaniards, and
(The items are all adjectives.)
the column on the right Bosnian students.
follow the rule of parallelism.
The students who do The students who do well attend
well attend class, they class, do their homework, and
do their homework, practice speaking in English.
and practice speaking (The items are all verbs +
in English. complements.)

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 PARALLEL STRUCTURE IN
SENTENCES
In order to make your NOT PARALLEL PARALLE
writing easier to read, you
need to follow certain rules. The teacher wanted
The teacher wanted to know which
One of these rules is called to know which
country we were from and what
parallelism. In these country we came
our future goals were.
examples, the sentences in from and our future
(The items are both noun clauses.)
the column on the right goals.
follow the rule of parallelism.
The language skills of The language skills of the students
the students in the in the evening classes are the same
evening classes are as the language skills of the
the same as the day students in the day classes.
classes. (The items are both noun phrases.)

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 Notes
• You may substitute a pronoun for the second "the language
skills" here:
The language skills of the students in the evening classes are
the same as those of the students in the day classes.
• All the words in the first item do not always have to be
repeated in the second. You may repeat all or some of the
words, depending on what you wish to emphasize. Both
sentences are correct.
Before you write a paper or before you take a test, you must
organize your thoughts.
Before you write a paper or take a test, you must organize
your thoughts.
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PARALLELISM WITH COORDINATORS: AND, OR, BUT

Words, phrases, and clauses that are joined by and, or, and but are written in parallel
form. Notice the parallel structures joined by coordinators in the sentences.
• The Federal Air Pollution Control Administration regulates
automobile exhausts, and the Federal Aviation Administration
makes similar regulations for aircraft.

• States regulate the noise created by motor vehicles but not by

commercial aircraft.

• Pesticides cannot be sold if they have a harmful effect on

humans, on animal life, or on the environment.

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PARALLELISM WITH CORRELATIVE (PAIRED) CONJUNCTIONS
Use parallel forms with the paired conjunctions both ... and, either...or, neither
...nor, and not only ... but also.

Paired conjunctions are placed directly before the elements they join in the
sentence. Notice the parallel structures in these clauses joined by paired
conjunctions:

A new law provides for both regulating pesticides and ordering their
removal.

Air pollutants may come either from the ocean as contaminants given
off by sea life or from the engines of automobiles.

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PARALLELISM WITH CORRELATIVE (PAIRED) CONJUNCTIONS

If neither industry nor the public works toward reducing pollution

problems, future generations will suffer.

Many people are neither concerned about pollutants nor worried about
their future impact.

At this time, air pollution is controlled by laws passed not only to reduce
pollutants at the source, but also to set standards of air quality.

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 PRACTICE 1
Identifying and Creating Parallelism
Underline the items or ideas in each sentence that are in parallel form. Circle the word(s) that
connect the parallel structures.

1 An ideal environment for studying includes good lighting, a spacious desk, and

a comfortable chair.
2 You know you are truly fluent in another language when you can calculate in it and when

you begin to dream in it.

3 People often spend as much time worrying about the future as planning for it.

4 You can learn a second language in the classroom, at home, or in a country where

the language is spoken.

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 PRACTICE 1
Identifying and Creating Parallelism
Underline the items or ideas in each sentence that are in parallel form. Circle the word(s) that
connect the parallel structures.

5 My new personal computer is both fast and reliable.

6 My mother's old typewriter is neither fast nor reliable.

7 Ann is growing older but unfortunately not wiser.

8 Young people buy computers not only to do schoolwork but also to play games.

9 If industrial nations continue to burn fossil fuels and if developing nations

continue to burn their rain forests, the level of CO, in the atmosphere will continue to

increase.

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 PRACTICE 1
Identifying and Creating Parallelism
Underline the items or ideas in each sentence that are in parallel form. Circle the word(s) that
connect the parallel structures.

5 My new personal computer is both fast and reliable.

6 My mother's old typewriter is neither fast nor reliable.

7 Ann is growing older but unfortunately not wiser.

8 Young people buy computers not only to do schoolwork but also to play games.

9 If industrial nations continue to burn fossil fuels and if developing nations

continue to burn their rain forests, the level of CO, in the atmosphere will continue to

increase.

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 PRACTICE 1
Identifying and Creating Parallelism
Underline the items or ideas in each sentence that are in parallel form. Circle the word(s) that
connect the parallel structures.

10 Before the judge announced the punishment, he asked the murderer if he wanted

to speak either to the victim's family or to the jury.

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 PRACTICE 1
Identifying and Creating Parallelism
Underline the items or ideas in each sentence that are in parallel form. Circle the word(s) that
connect the parallel structures.

10 Before the judge announced the punishment, he asked the murderer if he wanted

to speak either to the victim's family or to the jury.

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 SENTENCE PROBLEMS

In this section, you will learn to recognize and correct some common errors in
sentence structure: sentence fragments, and choppy, run-on, and "stringy" sentences.

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 SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

Sentence fragments are incomplete sentences or parts of sentences. Remember that a

complete sentence must contain at least one independent clause. Study the sentence
fragments and the suggested methods for correcting them.

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 Problem A

FRAGMENT Because some students work part-time while taking a full load of
classes. This is a dependent clause. It begins with a subordinator (because).
It does not express a complete thought because there is no independent
clause. There are two possible ways to correct this problem: add an
independent clause, or delete the subordinator.
CORRECTBecause some students work part-time while taking a full load of
courses, they have very little free time.
CORRECT Some students work part-time while taking a full load of classes.

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 Problem B

FRAGMENT For example, the increase in the cost of renting an apartment.

FRAGMENT To live and work for at least a year in a foreign country.
The problem with these is that neither sentence has a verb and therefore
they are not independent clauses. This can be corrected by adding a verb.
CORRECT For example, the increase in the cost of renting an apartment is
one reason for more people being homeless.
CORRECT To
live and work for at least a year in a foreign country has always
been my dream.

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 Problem C

FRAGMENT Teachers who give too much homework.

Teachers is a noun followed by an adjective clause (who give too much
homework). The noun is the beginning of an independent clause that is
incomplete. To correct this problem, simply complete the independent
clause by adding a subject complement.
CORRECT Teachers who give too much homework are unpopular.

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 Problem C

Always check your own writing for sentence fragments. Pay particular
attention to sentences beginning with subordinators (although, since,
because, if, before, and so on). These can be dangerous words because
they can introduce the problems described above. Make sure that every
clause beginning with these words is attached to an independent clause.

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Rewriting Label each sentence Frag. (sentence fragment) or
Comp. (complete sentence). Then, on a separate
Sentence sheet of paper, rewrite each fragment to make a
complete sentence.
Fragments
‫ـــــــــــــــــــــ‬
1. The desire of all humankind to live in peace
and freedom, for example.
2. Second, a fact that men are physically
‫ـــــــــــــــــــــ‬
stronger than women.
‫ـــــــــــــــــــــ‬ 3. The best movie I saw last year.
4. Titanic was one of the most financially
‫ـــــــــــــــــــــ‬
successful movies ever made, worldwide.

‫ـــــــــــــــــــــ‬
5. For example, many students have part-time
jobs.
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Rewriting Label each sentence Frag. (sentence fragment) or
Comp. (complete sentence). Then, on a separate
Sentence sheet of paper, rewrite each fragment to make a
complete sentence.
Fragments
Fragment 1. The desire of all humankind to live in peace
and freedom, for example.
Fragment 2. Second, a fact that men are physically
stronger than women.
Fragment 3. The best movie I saw last year.
Complete 4. Titanic was one of the most financially
successful movies ever made, worldwide.
complete 5. For example, many students have part-time
jobs.
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Rewriting Label each sentence Frag. (sentence fragment) or
Comp. (complete sentence). Then, on a separate
Sentence sheet of paper, rewrite each fragment to make a
complete sentence.
Fragments

‫ـــــــــــــــــــــ‬ 6. Although people want to believe that all men

are created equal.
‫ـــــــــــــــــــــ‬ 7. Finding a suitable marriage partner is a
challenging task.
‫ـــــــــــــــــــــ‬ 8. Many of my friends who did not have the
opportunity to go to college.

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Rewriting Label each sentence Frag. (sentence fragment) or
Comp. (complete sentence). Then, on a separate
Sentence sheet of paper, rewrite each fragment to make a
complete sentence.
Fragments

Fragment 6. Although people want to believe that all men

are created equal.
Complete 7. Finding a suitable marriage partner is a
challenging task.
8. Many of my friends who did not have the
Fragment
opportunity to go to college.

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Rewriting Label each sentence Frag. (sentence fragment) or
Comp. (complete sentence). Then, on a separate
Sentence sheet of paper, rewrite each fragment to make a
complete sentence.
Fragments
‫ـــــــــــــــــــــ‬ 9. A tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean
in December 2004, killing more than 200,000
people.
‫ـــــــــــــــــــــ‬
10. Despite a lag of up to several hours
between the earthquake and tsunami, nearly
all of the victims were taken completely by
surprise.

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Rewriting Label each sentence Frag. (sentence fragment) or
Comp. (complete sentence). Then, on a separate
Sentence sheet of paper, rewrite each fragment to make a
complete sentence.
Fragments
Fragment 9. A tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean
in December 2004, killing more than 200,000
Complete people.
10. Despite a lag of up to several hours
between the earthquake and tsunami, nearly
all of the victims were taken completely by
surprise.

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 Rewriting Choppy Sentences

Combine the choppy sentences. Decide whether the ideas are equal or
unequal and what the relationship is between the ideas. Then rewrite the
sentences as one sentence using appropriate conjunctions.

1. (a) Gasoline became expensive. (b) Automobile manufacturers began

to produce smaller cars. (c) Smaller cars use less gasoline.

Equal /Not equal

Main idea? Sentence (b)
Relationships: Sentence (a) could be time (when)
Sentence (c) could be reason (because).

Combined sentence: When gasoline became more expensive, automobile

manufacturers began to produce smaller cars because
they use less gasoline.

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 Rewriting Choppy Sentences

Combine the choppy sentences. Decide whether the ideas are equal or
unequal and what the relationship is between the ideas. Then rewrite the
sentences as one sentence using appropriate conjunctions.

2. (a) Electric cars are powered solely by batteries. (b) The new hybrid
vehicles switch between electricity and gasoline.

Equal /Not equal

____________________________________________________
Main idea? ____________________________________________________
Relationships: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Combined sentence: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
______________________________________

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 Rewriting Choppy Sentences

Combine the choppy sentences. Decide whether the ideas are equal or
unequal and what the relationship is between the ideas. Then rewrite the
sentences as one sentence using appropriate conjunctions.

3. (a) Government and private agencies have spent billions of dollars

advertising the dangers of smoking. (b) Many people still smoke cigarettes.

Equal /Not equal

____________________________________________________
Main idea? ____________________________________________________
Relationships: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Combined sentence: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
______________________________________

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 Rewriting Choppy Sentences

Combine the choppy sentences. Decide whether the ideas are equal or
unequal and what the relationship is between the ideas. Then rewrite the
sentences as one sentence using appropriate conjunctions.

4. (a) Some students go to a vocational school to learn a trade or profession.

(b) Some students go to a university to study an academic field.

Equal /Not equal

____________________________________________________
Main idea? ____________________________________________________
Relationships: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Combined sentence: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
______________________________________

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 Rewriting Choppy Sentences

Combine the choppy sentences. Decide whether the ideas are equal or
unequal and what the relationship is between the ideas. Then rewrite the
sentences as one sentence using appropriate conjunctions.

5. (a) The grading system at our college should be abolished. (b) The students
do not like getting grades. (c) The instructors do not enjoy giving grades.

Equal /Not equal

____________________________________________________
Main idea? ____________________________________________________
Relationships: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Combined sentence: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
______________________________________

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RUN-ON SENTENCES AND COMMA SPLICES

A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses are

written one after another with no punctuation. A similar error happens when two
independent clauses are incorrectly joined by a comma without a coordinating
conjunction. This kind of error is called a comma splice.
RUN-ON My family went to Australia then they emigrated to Canada.
COMMA SPLICE My family went to Australia, then they emigrated to Canada.

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RUN-ON SENTENCES AND COMMA SPLICES

The ways to correct these two sentence errors are the same.
• Add a period:

My family went to Australia. Then they emigrated to Canada.

• Add a semicolon:

My family went to Australia; then they emigrated to Canada.

• Add a coordinator:

My family went to Australia, and then they emigrated to Canada.

• Add a subordinator:

My family went to Australia before they emigrated to Canada.

After my family went to Australia, they emigrated to Canada.

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Correcting Run-On / Correct the run-on / comma splice sentences using
the methods indicated.
Comma Splice
Sentences
1. New York City is very cosmopolitan, people from many
cultures and ethnic groups live there.

_____________________________________
a. Add a period:
b. Add a semicolon: _____________________________________

c. Add a subordinator: _____________________________________

d. Add a coordinator: _____________________________________

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 Correct the run-on / comma splice sentences using
Correcting Run-On / the methods indicated.
Comma Splice 1. New York City is very cosmopolitan, people from many
Sentences cultures and ethnic groups live there.

a. Add a period: New York City is very cosmopolitan. People from many
cultures and ethnic groups live there.

b. Add a semicolon: New York City is very cosmopolitan; people from many
cultures and ethnic groups live there.

c. Add a subordinator: New York City is very cosmopolitan because people

from many cultures and ethnic groups live there.

d. Add a coordinator:
New York City is very cosmopolitan, for people from
many cultures and ethnic groups live there.

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Correcting Run-On / Correct the run-on / comma splice sentences using
the methods indicated.
Comma Splice
Sentences 2. A newly arrived international student faces several
challenges, for example, he or she has to cope with a
new culture.

_____________________________________
a. Add a period:
b. Add a semicolon: _____________________________________

c. Add a subordinator: _____________________________________

d. Add a coordinator: _____________________________________

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 Correct the run-on / comma splice sentences using
Correcting Run-On / the methods indicated.

Comma Splice 2. A newly arrived international student faces several

challenges, for example, he or she has to cope with a
Sentences new culture.
a. Add a period: A newly arrived international student faces several
challenges. For example, he or she has to cope with a
new culture.
b. Add a semicolon: A newly arrived international student faces several
challenges; for example, he or she has to cope with a
new culture.
c. Add a subordinator: _____________________________________

d. Add a coordinator:
_____________________________________

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Correcting Run-On / Correct the run-on / comma splice sentences using
the methods indicated.
Comma Splice
Sentences 3. Learning a new language is like learning to swim it
takes a lot of practice.

_____________________________________
a. Add a period:
b. Add a semicolon: _____________________________________

c. Add a subordinator: _____________________________________

d. Add a coordinator: _____________________________________

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 Correct the run-on / comma splice sentences using
Correcting Run-On / the methods indicated.
Comma Splice 3. Learning a new language is like learning to swim it
takes a lot of practice.
Sentences
a. Add a period: Learning a new language is like learning to swim, for it
takes a lot of practice.

b. Add a semicolon: _____________________________________

c. Add a subordinator: _____________________________________

d. Add a coordinator:
_____________________________________

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Correcting Run-On / Correct the run-on / comma splice sentences using
the methods indicated.
Comma Splice
Sentences 4. Ask for assistance at the reference desk in the library,
a librarian is always on duty.

_____________________________________
a. Add a period:
b. Add a semicolon: _____________________________________

c. Add a subordinator: _____________________________________

d. Add a coordinator: _____________________________________

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 Correct the run-on / comma splice sentences using
Correcting Run-On / the methods indicated.
Comma Splice
4. Ask for assistance at the reference desk in the library,
Sentences a librarian is always on duty.

a. Add a period: Ask for assistance at the reference desk in the library;
a librarian is always on duty.

b. Add a semicolon: _____________________________________

c. Add a subordinator:
_____________________________________

d. Add a coordinator: _____________________________________

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 Correcting Stringy Sentences
Improve these stringy sentences.
1. He enrolled in an intermediate calculus class, but he found it too easy, so he dropped it, and he
signed up for the advanced class.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
2. First-born children in a family often have more responsibility than their younger
siblings, and they feel pressure to set a good example, so they often become superachievers.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

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 Correcting Stringy Sentences
Improve these stringy sentences.
3. Last-born children, on the other hand, often have little responsibility, and they may be
pampered as the "baby" of the family, but they are the smallest, and they have to get people to
like them, so they often develop superior social skills.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
4. The students in my engineering class could not do the homework, so we got together and
worked for several hours, and we finally solved all the problems.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

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 Correcting Stringy Sentences

Improve these stringy sentences.

5. The lack of rainfall has caused a severe water shortage, so people have to conserve
water every day, and they also have to think of new ways to reuse water, but the situation is
improving.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

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