1A Brief Study on How to Learn Parallelism of English Major Students Abstract: Parallelism is one of the most frequently used rhetorical devices in English and finds wide applications in different discourses, such as in prose, political speeches and many other sub-literary uses of language, such as proverbs, folk songs, slogans, etc. and it is also used in writing practice and testing. In this thesis the author is going to make compressive study and quantitative analysis of its definition, classification, application and effect when it is applied in English and how to learn to use parallelism for English major students. Key words：Parallelism, discourse, definition, classification, application, effect， learn， English内容摘要：内容摘要： 平行结构是英语当中使用频率比较高的一种修辞，在各类写作文体中也应用的非常广泛，比如说，在散文、政治演讲以及一些其它小的语言文学使用中，如，谚语、民谣、标语等等，同时在写作实践以及测验中也有使用。本文作者主要从平行结构的定义，分类，运用及其所产生的效果，以及英语专业学生如何学习使用平行结构等方面作一个全面而定量的分析和研究。关键词：关键词： 平行结构 文体 定义 分类 运用 效果 学习 英语2Chapter1Introduction1.1 A Brief Introduction to research statusDear friends, do you like reading a great deal? If so, you will find parallelism is one of the most frequently used rhetorical devices in English and widely used in all kinds of types of writing. Ideas are mainly embodied in language. Great idea such as the one given by Abraham Lincoln” that government of the people, by the people, and for the people” is quiet familiar to english learners. Since not every great idea is well remembered as this one, there must be something that helps to imprint the idea on peoples mind. It is no doubt that, the parallelism or the parallel structure that has made this statement particularly impressive and easy to remember. A study on this kind of rhetoric devices since the end of 19 century in world, which has been a fruitful, various journals related to a considerable number of papers and some monographs will also include the study of sections of Parallelism in English, such as the Journal of South China Normal University (Social Science Edition) ,In 2003 third issue, “English Rhetoric Form and Effect of Parallelism”（Cai Guohua，College of Arts of Shenzhen University）；Math enthusiasts (Academic), in 2009 fifth issue, “Research on Parallel Structure in English Discourse Rhetorical Function”（Zhou Anhui）. At the same time, there are some researches about this kind of rhetoric devices in English teaching or learning,such as College English, in 1997 third issue, “Talking about Parallelism in College English”(Lu Lin) and in 2000 first issue, “Talking about Parallelism in College English again”(Wang Shuilian). 31.2 A Brief Introduction to Significance of research.In English, parallelism is not only rich, but also a wide range of applications such as famous speech and literature. There are so many fruitful research results, but the study on how to learn parallelism for English major students is small in number, so this paper has its own research significance for the simple reason that, by the research, we can learn the effects and characters of parallel structure, we can make our point of view more inspiring and persuasive when we know how to use parallelism in practical life and writing, in a word, it plays extremely important role in completely understanding a context which use a lot of parallel structures. Besides, it is necessary for us to study parallel structures in English, in order to make us learn charm of language. The author hopes that the thorough description and the quantitative analysis will help English learners to know it, and will contribute to English learning and research.4Chapter2. A General Discussion on Parallelism2.1 The definition of parallelismWe talk so much about parallelism, here is a question. What is parallelism on earth? As far as the definition of parallelism is concerned, different scholars define it in different ways.The definition of parallelism in A Dictionary of Literary Terms is explained as: It consists of phrases or sentences of similar construction and meaning placed side by side, balancing each other. New Oxford English Dictionary defines it as : The use of successive verbal constructions in poetry or prose which correspond in grammatical structure, sound ,meter, meaning, etc.Wikipedia, encyclopedia explains it like this: In grammar, parallelism is a balance of two or more similar words, phrases, or clauses.Robert G. Bander, in his American English Rhetoric, points out :“The general principle of parallelism is this: similar ideas are expressed by similar grammatical forms parallelism.”Feng Cuihua, in English Rhetorical Options, points out: in parallel construction it is necessary to balance word for word (noun with noun, verb with verb, adjective with adjective, etc.), phrase with phrase, clause with clause, sentence with sentence. Parallelism is regularly employed in listing of facts, ideas, events, etc. and the parallel elements may range from a minimum of two to any number required. To make the parallelism clear, it is essential to repeat, as the case deman