gears,
and after a little practice you will be a good driver.

Right: When you have mastered the operation of shifting gears,
and had a little practice, you will be a good driver. [Or]
After you master the gears and have a little practice, you will
be a good driver.

Faulty. These are the duties of the president of a literary
society:

(a) To preside at regular meetings,
(b) He calls special meetings,
(c) Appointment of committees.

Right: These are the duties of the president of a literary
society:

(a) To preside at regular meetings,
(b) To call special meetings,
(c) To appoint committees.

Faulty: She was actively connected with the club, church, and
with several organized charities. [Here parallelism is obscured
by the omission from the second phrase of both the preposition
and the article.]

Right: She was actively connected with the club, with the
church, and with several organized charities.

Faulty: He was red-faced, awkward, and had a disposition to eat
everything on the table. [The third element is like the others
in thought, and should have similar form.]

Right: He had a red face, an awkward manner, and a disposition
to eat everything on the table. [Or] He was red-faced, awkward,
and voracious.

Note.--Avoid misleading parallelism. For ideas _different_ in kind, do
_not_ use parallel structure.

Wrong: He was hot, puffing, and evidently had run very hard.
[The third element is unlike the others in thought; hence the
_and_ is misleading.]

Right: He was hot and puffing; evidently he had run very hard.

Confusing: He was admired for his knowledge of science, and for
his taste for art, and for this I too honor him. [The last
_for_ gives a false parallelism to unlike thoughts.]

Better: He was admired for his scientific knowledge and for his
artistic taste. I honor him for both these qualities.

Exercise:

1. The duties of the secretary are to answer correspondence,
and keeping the minutes of the meetings.

2. This process is the most difficult; it costs the most; and
is most important.

3. I make it a rule to be orderly, spend no money foolishly,
and keep still when I have nothing to say.

4. The cotton is put up in bales about five feet in length and
three fee