Common_Errors_in_English_usage

a flat platform onto which goods are loaded.
PARALLEL/SYMBOL
Beginning literature students often write sentences like this: "He uses
the rose as a parallel for her beauty" when they mean "a symbol of her
beauty." If you are taking a literature class, it's good to master the
distinctions between several related terms relating to symbolism. An
eagle clutching a bundle of arrows and an olive branch is a symbol of
the US government in war and peace.
Students often misuse the word "analogy" in the same way. An analogy has
to be specifically spelled out by the writer, not simply referred to:
"My mother's attempts to find her keys in the morning were like early
expeditions to the South Pole: prolonged and mostly futile."
A metaphor is a kind of symbolism common in literature. When Shakespeare
writes "That time of year thou mayst in me behold/When yellow leaves, or
none, or few, do hang/Upon those boughs which shake against the cold" he
is comparing his aging self to a tree in late autumn, perhaps even
specifically suggesting that he is going bald by referring to the tree
shedding its leaves. This autumnal tree is a metaphor for the human
aging process.
A simile resembles a metaphor except that "like" or "as" or something
similar is used to make the comparison explicitly. Byron admires a
dark­haired woman by saying of her "She walks in beauty, like the
night/Of cloudless climes and starry skies." Her darkness is said to be
like that of the night.
An allegory is a symbolic narrative in which characters may stand for
abstract ideas, and the story convey a philosophy. Allegories are no
longer popular, but the most commonly read one in school is Dante's
"Divine Comedy" in which the poet Virgil is a symbol for human wisdom,
Dante's beloved Beatrice is a symbol of divine grace, and the whole poem
tries to teach the reader how to avoid damnation. Aslan in C. S. Lewis'
Narnia tales is an allegorical figure meant to symbolize Christ: dying
to save others and rising again ("aslan" is Turkish for "lion").
PARALLELLED/PARALLELED
The spelling of the past tense of "parallel" is "paralleled."
PARALLELISM IN A SERIES
Phrases in a series separated by commas or conjunctions must all have
the same grammatical form. "They loved mountain­climbing, to gather
wild mushrooms, and first aid practice" should be corrected to something
like this: "They loved to climb mountains, gather wild mushrooms, and
practice first aid" (all three verbs are dependent on that initial
"to"). Fear of being repetitious often leads writers into awkward
inconsistencies when creating such series.
PARALYZATION/PARALYSIS