英语写作中的排比句parallelism

　　写作当中，适当使用（其实一篇文章有那么一句，足矣，考试当中字数有限制）排比句，也就是我们常常说的平行结构 parallelism。可以使文章怎色不少，美国总统奥巴马一向以演讲和讲稿的eloquence 著称。以下，列举奥巴马讲稿中的parallelism 予以彰示。

　　对小奥当选后的获胜讲演，更多人关注的是讲演内容，而我对其文章结构和语言的运用更感兴趣，特别是其中的排比句。排比结构是英语演讲中最常使用的一种重要修辞手段,它以语法结构对称来突出意义的常见修辞手法。运用排比结构能突出演讲者的雄辩口才和强烈情感,使得演讲文稿极具说服力、震撼力和欣赏性。小奥显然是这方面的高手。

　　1.用在从句开头:

　　If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

　　（注意其中用了三个不一样的动词）

　　2.用在段首:

　　Its the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voices could be that difference.

　　Its the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals, or a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

　　Its the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

　　3.用在谓语中:

　　Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how theyll make the mortgage, or pay their doctors bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

　　4.用在介词短语中:

　　And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if Americas beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

　　5.用在段末:

　　And tonight, I think about all that shes seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we cant, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

　　At a time when womens voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

　　When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

　　When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

　　She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.

　　A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

　　小奥的讲演的最后，用一系列的 Yes we can 煽动台下听众的热情，众人一起高喊：Yes we can! Yes we can! 场面相当热烈。