Analyzing parallel structure in one paragraph.

Annotated paragraph. Actually, almost every day, even in the most sophisticated home, something is likely to happen that evokes the memory of some old folk belief. [The following three sentences are written in parallel form]: The salt spills. A knife falls to the floor. Your nose tickles. [The paragraph continues]: Then perhaps, with a slightly embarrassed smile, [the following three sentences are in parallel form]: the person who spilled the salt tosses a pinch over his left shoulder. Or someone recites the old rhyme, "Knife falls, gentleman calls." Or as you rub your nose you think, That means a letter. I wonder who's writing.

—Adapted from Margaret Mead, “New Superstitions for Old”

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