About this episode
Welcome to the Hall of Imagination for an episode with William Shakespeare called words become music. And here is Master Shakespeare himself as as he explains one of the most commonly used rhetorical devices of them all.
Mr. Bartley: Master Shakespeare, there is a word that continues to appear whenever people discuss your writing. That word is “parallelism.”
Master Shakespeare: A formidable word, Mr. Bartley. Five syllables marching in formation. Any word of five syllables must surely be either profoundly important or invented merely to frighten schoolchildren.
Mr. Bartley: In this case, I believe it may be both.
Master Shakespeare: Then we must approach it carefully. What meaning do your scholars give the word?
Mr. Bartley: At its simplest, parallelism means placing similar ideas into similar grammatical forms. A writer establishes a pattern, repeats that pattern, and creates a sense of balance.
Master Shakespeare: Ah! Then I know the creature, though I may not always have called it by that name.
Mr. Bartley: Most writers today use parallelism. You, however, seemed to invite it home, give it supper, and offer it a permanent room.
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