Is it in parallel?

Question

Could you tell mi please is this words are in parallel?

Therefore, in my opinion, students should wear school uniforms because restoring order to unruly classrooms over all is largely avoided, fostering a greater adherence to discipline, improving self-esteem, and invoking a higher sense of school pride.

Thanks

Maylegoas, ¿qué quieres decir con "in parallel"? - Gekkosan, Dec 22, 2011

Answer 1

Hi Mary, I believe you are asking whether the following paragraph uses parallel construction.

Therefore, in my opinion, students should wear school uniforms because restoring order to unruly classrooms over all is largely avoided, fostering a greater adherence to discipline, improving self-esteem, and invoking a higher sense of school pride.

You could add a colon after 'because'. Then that which follows could be four phrases separted by semicolons. Each phrase should be constructed the same way. This is what is called parallel construction.

Phrase 1 is not the same kind of construction as phrases 2, 3 and 4. Phrase 1 is actually a complete sentence, whereas phrases 2, 3 and 4 are phrases introduced by a gerund. Although it would be easier to change phrase 1 to make it like phrases 2, 3 and 4, you really need to change these last 3 phrases in order to make your principal clause make sense.

I suggest the following:

Therefore, in my opinion, students should wear school uniforms because: restoring order to unruly classrooms over all is largely avoided; a greater adherence to discipline is fostered; self esteem is improved; and a higher sense of school pride is invoked.

thanks Jeremias I understand and I learned - maylegoas, Dec 23, 2011

Answer 2

If you are asking if the phrase flows logically: yes, and no. restoring order to unruly classrooms makes sense, while stating that avoiding this restoration of order would be an advantage of wearing uniforms makes no sense.