Question

The disease had sharpened my senses—not destroyed—not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell.
What is the effect of parallelism in this excerpt?
It emphasizes the narrator’s strengths.
It emphasizes the narrator’s spirituality.
It emphasizes the narrator’s anger.
It emphasizes the narrator’s madness.

Answer 1

The correct answer is D. It emphasizes the narrator's madness

Explanation:

Parallelism refers to the repetition of grammatical structures or patterns in a sentence that connects and present two or more elements in the same way. In the excerpt presented the is a parallel structure in "The disease had sharpened my senses—not destroyed—not dulled them" as the grammatical structure in the elements "—not destroyed—not dulled them" is the same which establishes a parallel relationship between the elements and gives emphasis to the sentence. Also, parallelism is presented in "I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell" with the repetition of "I heard" which also gives and emphasis to the narrator' words.

This two sections of the text in which parallelism appears emphasize the narrator's explanation about the way his senses are more acute than normal due to a disease. However, the phrases "—not destroyed—not dulled them" and  "I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell" seem mainly illogical which suggest the narrator is mainly mad which is emphasizes through parallelism, but he is trying to show he is not insane. Thus, the effect of parallelism in this excerpt mainly emphasizes the narrator's madness as the phrases with parallelism show the thoughts of the narrator are not normal, consistent with reality or logic.

Answer 2

I'd say madness, if it means like the crazy kind of mad. I hope this helps!