The document discusses the importance of parallelism in professional writing. It provides examples of how to construct parallel lists using different grammatical structures, such as noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, and clauses. Mistakes in parallelism are analyzed, such as mixing different types of structures within a list or not using consistent levels of detail. The key is to use identical grammatical forms for all items in a list.

1. Parallelism
E. Siler

2. A Basic English Rule
• Whenever we put grammatical structures in a list
of two or more, the structures must be identical
in grammatical/structural type (form).
• This rule is called the rule of “parallelism.”
• It’s important to understand parallelism if you
plan to do any form of professional writing in
English.
• Slides, resumes, brochures, and technical papers
are all organized around the rule of parallelism.

3. Understanding Parallelism
• It’s best to think of parallelism in terms of
examples.

4. Example 1: Noun phrases
• Slides, resumes, brochures, and technical
papers are all organized around the principle
of parallelism.

5. Analysis
• Slides, resumes, brochures, and technical
papers are all organized around the principle
of parallelism.
• This is a list of four noun phrases.
• Three of the noun phrases are plural count
nouns: slides, resumes, brochures.
• The fourth one is a plural count noun and an
adjective phrase: technical papers

6. Punctuation
• Slides, resumes, brochures, and technical
papers are all organized around the rule of
parallelism.
• Note that the parts of the list are divided by
commas (,) and the last two elements in the
list are connected with “and.”

7. Parallelism and Other Structures
• Parallelism is not just a way to arrange noun
phrases.

8. Example 2: Verb Phrases
• Sometimes we list verb phrases.
• My laboratory experience includes:
– Autoclaving
– Extracting DNA
– Operating the sanitary incinerator

9. Example 3: Adjective Phrases
• Sometimes we list adjective phrases.
• Bilingual; US-educated; Experienced in hotel
front desk work.

10. Example 4: Prepositional Phrases
• Sometimes we list prepositional phrases.
• Experience
– In hotels
– In restaurants
– At amusement parks
• Experience in
– Hotels
– Restaurants
– Cafeterias

11. Example 5: Clauses
• Sometimes we list clauses.
• I interviewed candidates , recommended short
list candidates, and organized interviews.

12. Resume Mistake #1
• [ Semester long one-on-one mentorship
opportunity designed to develop professional
skills and preparation in professional
engineering.]

13. Analysis
• [ Semester long one-on-one mentorship
opportunity designed to develop professional
skills and preparation in professional
engineering.]
• Problem: The two elements listed with “and”
are not in the same form.
• One is an infinitive phrase (to develop . . .)
• One is a noun phrase (preparation in . . .)

14. Fix it!
• [ Semester long one-on-one mentorship
opportunity designed to develop professional
skills and (to) prepare for a career in
professional engineering.]
• Solution: Now we have two infinitive
phrases.

15. Fix It!
• [ Semester long one-on-one mentorship
opportunity designed for the development of
professional skills and preparation in
professional engineering.]
• Solution: Now we have two noun phrases.

16. Resume Mistake #2
• Experience
• Shoe Company
Payless Shoes
Purchasing Agent Assistant
• Econometrics Lab
Unemployment Rate Research (USA) Fall
2010

17. Analysis
• Experience
• Shoe Company
Payless Shoes
Purchasing Agent Assistant
• Econometrics Lab
Unemployment Rate Research (USA) Fall 2010
– Each entry starts with the general place the person worked (shoe
company, econometrics lab).
– But after that different types of information are listed!
– The first one lists the name of the company (Payless Shoes) and the
title of the position (purchasing agent assistant).
– The second one lists the type of work done (unemployment rate
research) , the country in which that research applies (USA) and a date
(Fall 2010).

18. Fix It!
• The types of information listed must be
identical!
• Experience
Payless Shoes
Purchasing Agent Assistant (Spring 2011)
Washington State University Econometrics
Lab
Researcher (Fall 2010)

19. Resume Mistake #3
• Languages: Mandarin (Native) English
(Academic)
• Professional: SWOT analysis  international
law  entrepreneurship analysis for companies
 the process of export and import.
• Computer Skill: Proficient in Microsoft Office.

20. Analysis
• Categories are not in parallel order:
– Languages – plural count noun
– Professional – adjective
– Computer Skill – singular count noun

21. Fix It!
• Skills
– Language (modifier)
– Professional (modifier)
– Computer (modifier)
OR
– Language skills (noun phrase)
– Professional skills (noun phrase)
– Computer skills (noun phrase)

22. Analysis
• Remember: When we have two things in a
list, we combine with AND. In a resume we
could also use a semi-colon.
Language skills: Mandarin (Native) and
English (Academic).
OR
Language skills: Mandarin (Native); English
(Academic)

23. Analysis
• Remember: Wherever possible we want
phrases to be roughly the same type and length.
• Professional skills:
– SWOT analysis: (compound noun)
– international law: (adjective noun)
– entrepreneurship analysis for companies: (compound
noun with prepositional phrase)
– the process of export and import: (noun modified by
prepositional phrase.

24. Fix It!
• Professional skills:
• SWOT analysis: (compound noun)
• international law: (adjective noun)
• entrepreneurship analysis for companies:
(compound noun with prepositional phrase)
• import/export processes: (compound noun).

25. Resume Mistake #4
• Experienced specialist in International
Business  Bilingual in Mandarin/English 
Sales experience  Illustration experience

26. Analysis
• Experienced specialist in International
Business  Bilingual in Mandarin/English 
Sales experience  Illustration experience
• This profile has a number of problems with
parallelism:
– Noun phrase focused on the person (specialist)
– Adjective phrase (bilingual in Mandarin/English)
– Noun phrase focused on sales experience.
– Noun phrase focused on illustration experience.

27. Fix It!
• Bilingual international business experience 
Sales experience  illustration experience