Paraphrasing

1. Paraphrasing

2. A Paraphrase is: your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form. one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source. a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.

3. Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because... it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage. it helps you control the temptation to quote too much. The mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

4. Changing the Structure of A Paragraph Write down the main ideas & concepts Read the paragraph and write down the main points or words. Do not copy down entire sentences. Put the original away Put the paragraph / book away and using the main points, write your paraphrase from memory. This means that you are not copying the text word for word. Check your version against the original To avoid accidental plagiarism, check what you have written against the original text. You should check that they are not the same as well to see if you have left anything out.

5. Changing The Words Read the sentence to be paraphrased a number of times to get the meaning of the text. Once you understand it, write out the sentence in your own words. If you do not fully understand the text, do not attempt to paraphrase it, as you will just copy it. Circle the specialised words the words that the text is actually about. These will need to be included in your paraphrase, as without these words, the meaning of the paraphrase will change completely. Underline keywords that can be changed & Find alternative words for the keywords Find other words and phrases that have similar meanings that can be used to replace the keywords in the text. Use a thesaurus or dictionary to help if need be.

6. Try This Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries. Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and cushions the head. From "Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports (May 1990): 348.

7. Good Paraphrase The use of a helmet is the key to reducing bicycling fatalities, which are due to head injuries 75% of the time. By cushioning the head upon impact, a helmet can reduce accidental injury by as much as 85%, saving the lives of hundreds of victims annually, half of whom are school children ("Bike Helmets" 348).

8. Exercises to Try In American society, introverts are outnumbered about three to one. As a result, they must develop extra coping skills early in life because there will be an inordinate amount of pressure on them to “shape up,” to act like the rest of the world. The Introvert is pressured daily, almost from the moment of awakening, to respond and conform to the outer world. Classroom teachers unwittingly pressure Introverted students by announcing that “One-third of your grade will be based on classroom participation.” From Otto Kroeger and Janet M. Thuesen, Type Talk: The 16 Personality Types that Determine How We Live, Love and Work. New York: Dell Publishing, 1989.

9. Good Paraphrase There are many more extroverts than introverts in America. This puts a lot of pressure on introverts to fit in and be like everybody else. Even in school, teachers add to this pressure by making class participation part of the student's grade. Consequently, introverts have to acquire additional skills to deal with these pressures.

10. Try This Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.

11. Good Paraphrase In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).

12. Try This ^^ The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the law was a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past. From Kathleen Yancey, English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25.

13. During the twenties lawlessness and social nonconformity prevailed. In cities organized crime flourishedwithout police interference, and in spite of nationwide prohibition of liquor sales, anyone who wished to buy a drink knew where to get one. Musicians like Louis Armstrong become favorites, particularly among young people, as many turned away from highly respectable classical music to jazz. One of the best examples of the anti-traditional trend was the proliferation of young "flappers," women who rebelled against custom by cutting off their hair and shortening their skirts (Yancey 25).