Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words



Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words

A paraphrase is...

• your own restatement of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.

Paraphrasing is helpful because...

• it is better than quoting information from a passage that’s not worded in a special way.

• 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. Read and reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning. Have a dictionary available to write in quick definitions near words you don’t know.

2. Hide the original, and write your paraphrase on your paper (or a computer note card).

3. Underneath your paraphrase, jot down a few words to remind you later how you may want to use this material in your paper.

4. Check back with the original article to make sure that you didn’t make any errors and that you included the key details using your own words.

5. You can still decide to use a few, small direct quotes inside your paraphrase! Add quotation marks if you have decided to do this. If quoting from your author novel, make sure to also write down the page number.

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 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.

A 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).

Paraphrasing Practice

On your paper, paraphrase the following passage.

Remember to hide the original before you start writing, and follow the steps listed above.

1. As the Tour [de France] moved into Week Two and into [Lance] Armstrong's customary showplace, the Alps, he seemed off his game. He had been lucky to escape relatively unscathed from the mass crash near the finish of stage 1 that sent a few riders home and left Armstrong's former . . . teammate Tyler Hamilton, the leader of Team CSC, with a fractured right collarbone. Armstrong was also feeling the effects of a virus he had caught from his three-year-old son, Luke. Even in the smaller climbs the peloton* could sense something different about Armstrong. He didn't have the same acceleration, the same quick cadence he usually does, and the heat was bothering him. "Everyone could see he had weaknesses," said David Millar, a [fellow rider]. "He was tired. He was having to push himself, which was maybe not a new experience for Lance, but was a new experience for the rest of us to see. It gave everyone hope." From Kelli Anderson, “Tour de Lance,” Sports Illustrated (4 August 2003): 50.

* clump of bike riders that is the thickest in a race

Practice paraphrasing here

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