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reverse parallelism

Structure
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A structural pattern where the second half mirrors the first in reverse order (e.g., abcd dcba), creating chiastic balance and reflexive meaning.

Detailed Definition
Reverse parallelism is a rhetorical and poetic structure in which corresponding elements in successive clauses or lines appear in inverted order (e.g., “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country”), creating a mirror-like symmetry that emphasizes balance, contrast, or paradox; this technique deepens meaning by juxtaposing reciprocal ideas within a formally cohesive framework.
Example
Example in poetry:
The famous quote: "We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us." (A-B-C, B-C-A pattern of concepts, though not exact words).; The poetic phrase: "Despair not in want; want not in despair." (A-B, B-A structure—a form of antimetabole); "She went out with a sigh, but with a sigh came in she." (The grammatical parts of speech, or the main words, are inverted in the second clause).; A line where the phrase structure is (Verb - Noun), and the next line uses the structure (Noun - Verb) with the same or related words.
Additional Notes
A figure of speech where two successive phrases or clauses are constructed the same way grammatically, but the order of the key words is reversed; the formal definition of chiasmus (e.g., 'Do not live to eat, but eat to live').
Also Known As
Inverted parallelism counter symmetry reversed parallel structure Chiastic
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