In the USA it is customary for applicants to a university to submit a personal essay in which the applicant elaborates upon a certain topic following a well-defined narrative line and dwelling on a personal thesis that needs to be accompanied by well-founded reasoning and an axiological framework that can make the student present him or herself to the admissions committee in a creative and personal manner.
Parallel means the verb are used in the same tense and wording, so the answer would look like this: Either you can eat or you can talk, but you can't do both at the same time.
