Knowing how to perform these three basic writing skills will help you write better essays!

1. Skills for Essay Writing
owl.english.purdue.edu/

2.  Puttingthe main idea(s) into your own words
 Uses only main point(s)
 Much shorter than the original

3. A 10-page article can be summarized in 1-2
paragraphs
 A 1-page article  1-2 sentences
 Movie or book  1-2 paragraphs

5.  Putting a passage into your own words
 About the same length as the original
 If rewording is too similar to the original, it’s
plagiarism

6. Paraphrasing is great in essays because
it proves you really know your material.
From Lindsay Radcliffe, UTSA Tutor and NCB Instructor

7. Example:
 Original: Giraffes like Acacia leaves and hay
and they can consume 75 pounds of food a day.
 Paraphrase: A giraffe can eat up to 75 pounds
of Acacia leaves and hay everyday.
From http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples/examples-of-paraphrasing.html

8.  Select a single paragraph from your full-
length article.
 Then, translate it into your own words.
 Change both the vocabulary and the
sentence structure to free yourself from the
author’s voice.
From Lindsay Radcliffe, UTSA Tutor and NCB Instructor

9.  Using someone’s direct words
 Use quotes to:
 support your ideas
 preserve special or elegant
language
From Lindsay Radcliffe, UTSA Tutor and NCB Instructor

10.  Don’t string quotes together or put them
back to back.
 Example (don’t do this…)
 John Smith said, “children can be very stubborn if you
don’t give them what they want,” but then said that
“adults can be equally stubborn and act like children.”
Rosy Campo disagreed. “Both children and adults have a
tendency to be obstinate regardless of the situation.”
 Better…
 John Smith and Rosy Campo are on differing sides of the
argument that children and adults can be stubborn whether
you appease them or not.

11.  Save quotes for when you think it is crucial
to present someone’s exact words.
 Learn how to add your own connections and
comments.
 Be engaged in the research.

12.  Always
cite your source when
summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting:
 “According to Dr. Smith, children show
stubbornness when…”
 “Smith found in his study that children show
stubbornness when…”

13.  No need to cite common knowledge.
 Knowledge that is widely known
 Examples:
 Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president.
 The U.S. declared independence in 1776.
 You cannot vote until you are 18.

14.  Learningin the Academy: AN Introduction
to the Culture of Scholarship, Creighton
University, College of Arts & Sciences
http://puffin.creighton.edu/ccas/forms/Learnin
ginAcademy.pdf
 Avoiding Plagiarism: Mastering the Art of
Scholarship, a UTSA Publication of
Student Judicial Affairs.
 SFU Library- Subject Research website
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/researchhelp/subjectguid
es/engl/classes/EssayArch.htm