Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words

Source: Purdue University Online Writing Lab, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

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 detailed restatement which focuses concisely on a single main idea

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.

5 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
3. Check your version with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all
the essential information in a new form.
4. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly
from the source.
5. Record the source (including the page number) on your note card so that you can credit it
easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Some examples to compare

The original passage:

Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse
quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 30% 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.

An unacceptable paraphrase:
Students often use too many direct quotations in taking notes, resulting in the overuse of
quotations in the final paper. Only approximately 30% of your final paper should be direct
quotes. Consequently, you should try to limit how many quotes you write when taking notes.

A legitimate 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).
A shorter version:

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Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the
amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).

Example: The current constitutional debate over heavy metal rock and gangsta rap music is not
just about the explicit language but also advocacy, an act of incitement to violence.
Inadequate paraphrase: Today’s constitutional debate about gangsta rap and heavy metal rock
is not just about obscene language but also advocacy and incitement of acts of violence.

Adequate paraphrase: Lyrics in some rap and heavy metal songs that appear to promote
violence, along with concerns about obscenity, have generated a constitutional debate over
popular music.

Practice with Paraphrasing

Directions: On a separate piece of paper, write a paraphrase of each of the following passages.
Try not to look back at the original passage after you have finished reading.

1. "The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat,
and it exerts tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold
ocean water around Antarctica flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its
upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this
regulating system is now threatened by human activity." From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon
(May 1990):17.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Matisse is the best painter ever at putting the viewer at the scene. He's the most realistic of all
modern artists, if you admit the feel of the breeze as necessary to a landscape and the smell of
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oranges as essential to a still life. "The Casbah Gate" depicts the well-known gateway Bab el
Aassa, which pierces the southern wall of the city near the sultan's palace. With scrubby coats of
ivory, aqua, blue, and rose delicately fenced by the liveliest gray outline in art history, Matisse
gets the essence of a Tangier afternoon, including the subtle presence of the bowaab, the sentry
who sits and surveys those who pass through the gate. From Peter Plagens, "Bright Lights."
Newsweek (26 March 1990): 50.

5. While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so far,
it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's tallest
building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer William
LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as the Sears
Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could produce a 500-story
building. From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.

The following is a sample essay you can practice quoting, paraphrasing,

and summarizing. Examples of each task are provided at the end of the
essay for further reference.

Here is the citation for Sipher's essay:

Sipher, Roger. “So That Nobody Has to Go to School If They
Don't Want To.” The New York Times, 19 Dec. 1977, p. 31.

So That Nobody Has To Go To School If They Don't Want To

by Roger Sipher

A decline in standardized test scores is but the most recent indicator that
American education is in trouble.

One reason for the crisis is that present mandatory-attendance laws

force many to attend school who have no wish to be there. Such children
have little desire to learn and are so antagonistic to school that neither
they nor more highly motivated students receive the quality education
that is the birthright of every American.

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The solution to this problem is simple: Abolish compulsory-attendance
laws and allow only those who are committed to getting an education to
attend.

This will not end public education. Contrary to conventional belief,

legislators enacted compulsory-attendance laws to legalize what already
existed. William Landes and Lewis Solomon, economists, found little
evidence that mandatory-attendance laws increased the number of
children in school. They found, too, that school systems have never
effectively enforced such laws, usually because of the expense involved.

There is no contradiction between the assertion that compulsory

attendance has had little effect on the number of children attending
school and the argument that repeal would be a positive step toward
improving education. Most parents want a high school education for their
children. Unfortunately, compulsory attendance hampers the ability of
public school officials to enforce legitimate educational and disciplinary
policies and thereby make the education a good one.

Private schools have no such problem. They can fail or dismiss students,
knowing such students can attend public school. Without compulsory
attendance, public schools would be freer to oust students whose
academic or personal behavior undermines the educational mission of
the institution.

Has not the noble experiment of a formal education for everyone failed?
While we pay homage to the homily, "You can lead a horse to water but
you can't make him drink," we have pretended it is not true in education.

Ask high school teachers if recalcitrant students learn anything of value.

Ask teachers if these students do any homework. Quite the contrary,
these students know they will be passed from grade to grade until they

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are old enough to quit or until, as is more likely, they receive a high
school diploma. At the point when students could legally quit, most
choose to remain since they know they are likely to be allowed to
graduate whether they do acceptable work or not.

Abolition of archaic attendance laws would produce enormous dividends.

First, it would alert everyone that school is a serious place where one
goes to learn. Schools are neither day-care centers nor indoor street
corners. Young people who resist learning should stay away; indeed, an
end to compulsory schooling would require them to stay away.

Second, students opposed to learning would not be able to pollute the

educational atmosphere for those who want to learn. Teachers could
stop policing recalcitrant students and start educating.

Third, grades would show what they are supposed to: how well a student
is learning. Parents could again read report cards and know if their
children were making progress.

Fourth, public esteem for schools would increase. People would stop
regarding them as way stations for adolescents and start thinking of
them as institutions for educating America's youth.

Fifth, elementary schools would change because students would find out
early they had better learn something or risk flunking out later.
Elementary teachers would no longer have to pass their failures on to
junior high and high school.

Sixth, the cost of enforcing compulsory education would be eliminated.

Despite enforcement efforts, nearly 15 percent of the school-age
children in our largest cities are almost permanently absent from school.

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Communities could use these savings to support institutions to deal with
young people not in school. If, in the long run, these institutions prove
more costly, at least we would not confuse their mission with that of
schools.

Schools should be for education. At present, they are only tangentially

so. They have attempted to serve an all-encompassing social function,
trying to be all things to all people. In the process they have failed
miserably at what they were originally formed to accomplish.

Example Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation from the Essay:

Example summary: Roger Sipher makes his case for getting
rid of compulsory-attendance laws in primary and secondary
schools with six arguments. These fall into three groups—first
that education is for those who want to learn and by including
those that don't want to learn, everyone suffers. Second, that
grades would be reflective of effort and elementary school
teachers wouldn't feel compelled to pass failing students.
Third, that schools would both save money and save face with
the elimination of compulsory-attendance laws.

Example paraphrase of the essay's conclusion: Roger

Sipher concludes his essay by insisting that schools have failed
to fulfill their primary duty of education because they try to fill
multiple social functions (par. 17).

Example quotation: According to Roger Sipher, a solution to

the perceived crisis of American education is to "[a]bolish
compulsory-attendance laws and allow only those who are
committed to getting an education to attend" (par. 3).

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