Balanced Sentence - Examples and Definition

Definition of Balanced Sentence
A balanced sentence is made up of segments which are same, no longer simplest in period, however also in grammatical shape and meaning. It can be a periodic or cumulative sentence. A reader finds both elements same while he is going through any such sentence.

For instance, Abraham Lincoln, in his Gettysburg speech, “… government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall no longer perish from the earth,” gives us an example of parallel forms. In writing, both parts are actually parallel forms, and they appear grammatically parallel. If there are multiple components of a balanced sentence, then they are separated by a semicolon or adjacent words, such as “however,” “or,” “and,” etc. Since balanced sentences continually have parallelism, writers need to apply parallelism with comparable grammatical forms, shape, and word order.

Use of Balanced Sentence in Presidential Address
“While the Inaugural Address was being added from this place, committed altogether to saving the Union with out war, insurgent retailers were within the city seeking to break it without war, in search of to dissolve the Union and divide consequences with the aid of negotiation” and “All dreaded it, all sought to preclude it.” [Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, 1865]

Lincoln has used balanced syntax in this address, with a mixture of quick and long sentences, which evokes an concept of a united and balanced nation. This difference in sentence lengths represents differences between North and South, and by combining them he emphasizes at the harmony of the divided nation.

Use of Balanced Sentence in Advertising
“Light is faster, however we're safer.” (Global Jet Airlines’ advertising slogan)
“Buy a bucket of hen and feature a barrel of fun.” (KFC’s advertising and marketing slogan)
Examples of Balanced Sentence in Literature
Example #1: Coon Tree (by means of E.B. White)
“On days while warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it; it dries the moist socks, it cools the hot little brain.”

This is a great instance of a balanced sentence. The remaining two clauses are parallel in this sentence, having the identical period and the equal grammatical shape. The two identical portions are giving rhythmical drift to the lines.

Example #2: In Cold Blood (through Truman Capote)
“Like the waters of the river, like the motorists at the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the form of awesome happenings, had never stopped there.”

This balanced sentence is also a periodic sentence, as the main action happens at the end. There are parallel grammatical structures in each a part of this sentence which makes its rhythmic and clear to understand.

Example #3: The Life of Samuel Johnson (by means of James Boswell)
“Every man has a right to utter what he thinks fact, and every other man has a proper to knock him down for it.”

This is another very simple and clean example of a balanced sentence. Both clauses have the equal length and phrase order, emphasizing the idea of fact and adding eye-catching rhythm.

Example #4: Pride and Prejudice (by means of Jane Austen)
“… and although the mother changed into located to be intolerable, and the more youthful sisters mentioned well worth talking to, a wish of being higher acquainted with them became expressed in the direction of the two eldest.”

Austen is well-known for the use of balanced sentences to illustrate comparison among things, people, or duality of situations. In those lines, she does the identical and compares Bennet sisters and their mother.

Example #5: The Scarlet Letter (by using Nathaniel Hawthorne)
“Her needle-work changed into seen at the ruff of the Governor; navy men wore it on their scarfs, and the minister on his band; it decked the baby’s little cap; it was close up, to be mildewed and moulder away, inside the coffins of the useless.”

By using a sequence of parallel clauses, narrator compares individuals of authorities, military, and faith to rotting lifeless and infants. This balanced syntax makes a observation on the corruption and blindness of governing bodies.

Function of Balanced Sentence
A balanced sentence offers rhythmical waft to the text. It draws interest of the readers to the sentence and makes it stand out among the relaxation. Writers use balanced sentences to emphasize particular thoughts to make meanings clean, in addition to to create eye-catching rhythms. In fact, it places a highlight on a chain of clauses or a sentence. Hence, it facilitates the writers to make their work stick out from the relaxation of the text. On the alternative hand, public speakers, singers, and advertising corporations use it, due to the fact its rhythmical traits have a good impact at the audience.