The Notes on Nuance
move we're going to learn in this segment
fits in well with the idea of parallel structure, and Corresponding Ideas
in Corresponding Forms. It involves using the word "as" to
make a balanced comparison. Here's an example from God Help The Child by Toni Morrison, who became in 1993, the first African-American woman to win the Nobel
Prize in literature. "A taxi was preferable
because parking a jaguar in that neighborhood was as
dim-witted as it was risky." See how the degree to which
that parking decision was dim-witted is made to match the degree to which it was risky? The "as" gives Morrison a chance to make two
judgments at once. You can see something
similar in the next example. It comes from Behold the
Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue, who grew up in Limbe, Cameroon and now lives in New York City. "Winston hired a lawyer for him, a fast-talking
Nigerian in Flatbush, Brooklyn, named
Bubakar, who was as short as his speech was fast." Later in that same book, Mbue uses the "as" move again, this time doubling
up the comparison. "He hung up and sighed, a sigh as deep and audible as it was
hopeless and defeated." You'll see more examples of that and other variations
in the readings. My hope is that they will be as helpful as they are interesting.