1. MORE ON PARAPHRASE (AND
CITATION)
E. SILER

2. POINTS TO REMEMBER
• PARAPHRASE IS A WAY TO RESTATE SMALL,
IMPORTANT PIECES OF INFORMATION AND
OPINION.
• YOU DO NOT PARAPHRASE LONG PASSAGES.
• LONG PASSAGES SHOULD BE SUMMARIZED.
• PARAPHRASE REARRANGES GRAMMAR AND
STRUCTURE AND REPLACES WORDS.

3. DECIDING WHAT TO PARAPHRASE
• At just 8 square miles, about a third of the size
of Manhattan, and located in the southern
Pacific Ocean, Nauru appears as merely a
pinpoint on most maps — if it is not missing
entirely in a vast expanse of blue. (FROM “ON
NAURU, A SINKING FEELING”, BY MARCUS
STEPHEN)

4. FACTS AND OPINIONS
• At just 8 square miles, about a third of the size
of Manhattan, and located in the southern
Pacific Ocean, Nauru appears as merely a
pinpoint on most maps — if it is not missing
entirely in a vast expanse of blue.
• FACTS: INFORMATION ON SIZE/LOCATION
• OPINION: COMPARISON OF SIZE TO A PIN.

5. SIMPLE FACT PARAPHRASE
• NAURU IS A SMALL ISLAND, ONLY 8 SQUARE
MILES, IN THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC OCEAN
(STEPHEN, 2011).

6. OPINION PARAPHRASE
• MORE LIKELY TO REQUIRE SOME QUOTING.
• OFTEN USED WITH A SIGNAL PHRASE
CITATION.
• STEPHEN (2011) DESCRIBED THE ISLAND AS “A
PINPRICK” IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

7. EXAMPLE 2
• But make no mistake; we are a sovereign
nation, with our own language, customs and
history dating back 3,000 years. Nauru is
worth a quick Internet search, I assure you, for
not only will you discover a fascinating
country that is often overlooked, you will find
an indispensible cautionary tale about life in a
place with hard ecological limits.

8. FACT PARAPHRASES
• NAURU IS A COUNTRY (STEPHEN, 2011). THE
PEOPLE THERE SPEAK A UNIQUE LANGUAGE
AND ENJOY A UNIQUE CULTURE. THE ISLAND
HAS A LONG HISTORY (STEPHEN, 2011).
• NOT:
• NAURU IS A COUNTRY. THE PEOPLE THERE
SPEAK A UNIQUE LANGUAGE AND ENJOY A
UNIQUE CULTURE. THE ISLAND HAS A LONG
HISTORY (STEPHEN, 2011).

9. OPINION PARAPHRASE
• STEPHEN (2011) BELIEVED THE STORY OF
NAURU IS “AN INDISPENSIBLE CAUTIONARY
TALE” BECAUSE THE ISLAND HAS “HARD
ECOLOGICAL LIMITS.”

10. EXTENDED FACT PARAPHRASES
• Phosphate mining, first by foreign companies and
later our own, cleared the lush tropical rainforest
that once covered our island’s interior, scarring
the land and leaving only a thin strip of coastline
for us to live on. The legacy of exploitation left us
with few economic alternatives and one of the
highest unemployment rates in the world, and
led previous governments to make unwise
investments that ultimately squandered our
country’s savings.

11. COUNT VERBS, VERB FORMS, NOUNS-
FROM-VERBS!
• Phosphate mining, first by foreign companies and
later our own, cleared the lush tropical rainforest
that once covered our island’s interior, scarring
the land and leaving only a thin strip of coastline
for us to live on. The legacy of exploitation left us
with few economic alternatives and one of the
highest unemployment rates in the world, and
ledprevious governments to make unwise
investments that ultimately squandered our
country’s savings.

12. PARAPHRASES
• 1. FOREIGN COMPANIES AND NAURUAN COMPANIES MINED
PHOSPHATE ON NAURU.
• 2. THE CENTRAL PART OF THE ISLAND WAS ONCE COVERED BY
TROPICAL RAINFOREST.
• 3. THE MINING SCARRED THE LAND.
• 4. THE MINING LEFT ONLY A THIN COASTLINE FOR PEOPLE.
• 5. PEOPLE LIVE ON THE COASTLINE OF THE ISLAND.
• 6. THE MINING COMPANIES EXPLOITED NAURU.
• 7. THE EXPLOITATION RESULTED IN LOST OPPORTUNITES AND HIGH
UNEMPLOYMENT.
• 8. EARLIER GOVERNMENTS MADE BAD CHOICES.
• 9. EARLIER GOVERNMENTS INVESTED BADLY.
• 10. THE BAD INVESTMENTS RUINED THE COUNTRY’S SAVINGS.

13. REGROUPING
• THE CENTRAL PART OF THE ISLAND WAS ONCE COVERED BY
TROPICAL RAINFOREST.
• FOREIGN COMPANIES AND NAURUAN COMPANIES MINED
PHOSPHATE ON NAURU. THE MINING COMPANIES
EXPLOITED NAURU. THE MINING SCARRED THE LAND. THE
MINING LEFT ONLY A THIN COASTLINE FOR PEOPLE TO
LIVE.THE EXPLOITATION RESULTED IN LOST OPPORTUNITES
AND HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT.
• EARLIER GOVERNMENTS MADE BAD CHOICES. EARLIER
GOVERNMENTS INVESTED BADLY.THE BAD INVESTMENTS
RUINED THE COUNTRY’S SAVINGS.

14. REMOVE REDUNDANCIES/ COMBINE /
TRANSITIONS
• THE CENTRAL PART OF THE ISLAND WAS ONCE COVERED BY
TROPICAL RAINFOREST (STEPHEN, 2011). IT IS NOW GONE
BECAUSE FOREIGN COMPANIES AND NAURUAN
COMPANIES MINED PHOSPHATE ON NAURU. THOSE
MINING COMPANIES EXPLOITED NAURU, DESTROYED THE
LAND AND DIDN’T LEAVE MUCH LAND FOR PEOPLE TO LIVE.
THERE IS A HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (STEPHEN, 2011).
• THE PEOPLE ALSO SUFFER FROM THE BAD CHOICES OF
EARLIER GOVERMENTS, WHICH INVESTED BADLY. THOSE
BAD INVESTMENTS RUINED THE COUNTRY’S SAVINGS
(STEPHEN, 2011).