Many literature students find these two devices to be similar. For the ancient Hebrews, poetry was typically not based on rhyme, but on a concept known as parallelism. The main difference between repetition and parallelism is that repetition focuses more on the semantics whereas parallelism focuses more on syntax. Three other common parallel devices are antithetical parallelism, emblematic parallelism, and synthetic parallelism, although synonymous parallelism is the most commonly found. I have always been fascinated by the parallelism which characterizes Hebrew poetry. Parallel structure — also known as parallel sentence structure or parallelism — means having matching elements of a phrase, sentence or paragraph. Parallelism in Hebrew Writing. The ess ence of Hebrew poetry is expressed, rather, by the term “parallelism.” Parallelism in the Psalms Parallelism is, quite simply, the relationship between the two (or more) parts of a single line. Here are a couple of examples: Parallelism in Poetry. A common literary feature of Hebrew poetry in the Old Testament is called parallelism, in which the words of two or more lines of text are directly related in some way. Repetition and Parallelism can be a tricky area in literature. Parallelism in Literature. Parallel structure is essential to accurate grammatical structure, as it improves coherence and consistency. Parallelism impacts both the grammar of sentences as well as the larger presentation of ideas. Synonymous parallelism is one of many different parallelism devices used in Hebrew poetry, each catalogued by Robert Lowth, an eighteenth century Anglican bishop. I remember taking a seminary course in which I learned about the various kinds of Hebrew parallelism and realized that it is far more than just saying the same thing twice. Dennis Bratcher. In many cases, it is used in antithetic sentences, where two contrasting ideas having parallel structures are placed in apposition to one another. As we were […] Answer: Emblematic parallelism is a poetic device often used in the book of Proverbs. One of the unique features of Old Testament poetry (and sometime prose) is heavy use of parallelism. Last night, my oldest daughter helped reawaken that fascination. What Is Parallelism in Writing? It is very often found in Biblical poetry and in proverbs in general. doomed to failure. Parallelism is shown by using "it was" to connect opposing ideas. Parallelism—the repetition of grammatical elements—is key in good writing and effective public speaking. However, there is a distinct difference between repetition and parallelism. Parallelism as a rhetorical device is used in many languages and cultures around the world in poetry, epics, songs, written prose and speech, from the folk level to the professional. It can be used for literary effect (as we’ll come see in a moment), but at the most basic level, it simply means ensuring your writing is grammatical. Parallelism is the repetition of grammatical elements in a piece of writing to create a harmonious effect. The nature of Hebrew poetry was recognized in the 12th century by Ibn Ezra and by Kimchi in the 13th century, but it was more clearly defined by Robert Lowth in 1753 (Unger 1951, p. 282). There have been numerous instances where parallelism has been used by poets to convey meaning. Question: "What is emblematic parallelism in Hebrew poetry?" Define parallelism in literature: The definition of parallelism in literature is the use of identical or equivalent syntactic constructions in corresponding clauses and phrases. The opening paragraph of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities is perhaps the best-known example of parallelism in literature. Almost every poetic line exists in two halves, … It is one of several types of parallelism used in Hebrew poetry (the other types being synonymous parallelism, synthetic parallelism, and antithetical parallelism).Emblematic parallelism is constructed with a symbol or a metaphor (an …