5 Types of Parallelism and Examples
Example of Zeugma
We were partners, not soul mates, two separate people who happened to be |sharing| a menu and a life.
Antithesis
two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect
Chiasmus
two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their grammatical structures (not necessarily words)
Example of Antimetabole
|Eat to live, not live to eat|.
Example of Anaphora
|Every| day, |every| night, in |every| way, I am getting better and better.
Example of Antithesis
|Man proposes, God disposes.|
Example of Anaphora
|My life| is my purpose. |My life| is my goal. |My life| is my inspiration.
Example of Antithesis
|Speech is silver|, but |silence is gold|.
Example of Antimetabole
|We do what we like and we like what we do.|
Example of Chiasmus
A paradox was born: The |corn| was full of |kernals| And the |colonels| full of |corn|
Example of Chiasmus
But O, what damned minutes tells he o'er Who |dotes|, yet |doubts|; |suspects|, yet |strongly loves|.
Example of Zeugma
He was alternately |cudgeling| his brains and his donkey when...
Example of Antimetabole
In America, you can |always find a party|. In Soviet Russia, |Party always finds you!|
Example of Chiasmus
Never let a |fool kiss| you or a |kiss fool| you (Fool: noun → verb) (Kiss: verb → noun)
Example of Antithesis
Setting foot on the moon may be a |small step for a man |but a |giant step for mankind|.
Example of Zeugma
She lowered her standards by |raising| her glass, her courage, her eyes and his hopes.
Example of Antithesis
You are |easy| on the |eyes|, but |hard| on the |heart|.
Zeugma
a verb or an adjective applies to more than one noun, blending together grammatically and logically different ideas
Anaphora
deliberate repetition of the fist part of the sentence
Antimetabole
repeats a phrase in reverse order
