7_Parallelism
Short Summary:
This lecture focuses on parallelism in scientific writing, emphasizing the importance of maintaining consistent grammatical structure in sentences and lists. Key points include the need for parallel structure when joining ideas with "and," "or," and "but," and the necessity of parallel grammatical structures within lists. Examples discussed include sentences with paired ideas, lists of actions, and methods sections in scientific papers. The lecture highlights how parallel structure improves clarity and readability, particularly in complex sentences and lists common in scientific writing. The speaker demonstrates how to identify and correct non-parallel structures by rewriting sentences to achieve consistent grammatical forms (e.g., all verbs, all nouns, all gerunds).
Detailed Summary:
The lecture is divided into several sections, each illustrating different aspects of parallelism:
Section 1: Introduction to Parallelism: The lecture begins by introducing the concept of parallelism in sentence construction. The speaker emphasizes that when writing sentences with paired ideas or lists, all elements should have the same grammatical structure. This is crucial for clarity and readability, especially when using conjunctions like "and," "or," and "but."
Section 2: Parallel Pairs of Ideas: This section provides examples of correctly and incorrectly structured sentences with paired ideas. Correct examples show parallel structures using similar verb tenses and sentence structures (e.g., "The velocity decreased by 50%, but the pressure decreased by only 10%"). Incorrect examples demonstrate how mismatched structures create awkward and unclear sentences.
Section 3: Parallel Lists: This section focuses on the importance of parallelism in lists. An example of an unparallel list (locusts denuded fields, rural Iowa was washed away, cotton was shriveled) is presented and then rewritten to achieve parallelism (locusts denuded fields, torrents washed away rural Iowa, blazing heat shriveled cotton). The speaker explains how to achieve parallelism by changing all items in the list to have the same grammatical structure (e.g., all subject-verb constructions).
Section 4: Parallelism in Scientific Writing: The lecture emphasizes the significance of parallelism in scientific writing, particularly in methods sections. An example from a Mars Curiosity rover article is used to illustrate a well-structured parallel list of actions. A contrasting example shows an unparallel list in a sentence about becoming a good doctor, highlighting how the lack of parallelism affects readability. The speaker demonstrates how to correct this by changing the sentence structure to achieve parallelism (using imperatives or nouns).
Section 5: Correcting Non-Parallel Structures: The lecture demonstrates how to correct non-parallel structures. The speaker uses the example of a research paper's methods section, showing how to change a list of phases from a mix of verb phrases and noun phrases into a parallel list using gerunds. The speaker emphasizes the importance of careful editing to ensure parallel structure in lists, especially in scientific writing, particularly when describing methods. The speaker notes that reading the sentence aloud can help identify non-parallel structures. The speaker concludes by reiterating the importance of parallelism, especially in methods sections of scientific papers.