Paraphrasing is useful for supporting your ideas by rephrasing some important information from a source in your own words. Paraphrasing can be difficult, because it is necessary to keep the original cue of the topic, but without directly copying the words. If you want to know how to act, you just have to read the original quote, find your way to present the main ideas present in the sentence and correctly report the sources: just follow these simple steps.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Part 1: Understanding What You Mean by Paraphrasing
Step 1. Try to understand how paraphrase is used:
it is when you read and make your own a statement of others and then re-propose the main ideas in your own words. When paraphrasing, you do not have to report exactly the sentences, but you must present the essential information and the points of the author in a different expressive way.
- When paraphrasing, you should condense the quote slightly to reduce any verbiage, while retaining the main idea.
- An accurate paraphrase should be different enough from the source material not to be considered plagiarism. If you are not quoting in quotes, but are using your own words, very close to the original ones, it is still plagiarism. And it doesn't matter if you're citing the source.
- Paraphrasing is different from summarizing, which is a broader process and is based on the main points of an entire text. The paraphrase, on the other hand, focuses on one main idea or concept at a time.
- It is also a great way to avoid citing external sources too often and to be able to express your personal thoughts in the essay.
- When you use paraphrase, you come to appreciate and understand more the passage you are quoting, so you increase your knowledge just by applying it.
Step 2. Try to understand the difference between paraphrase and quotation
The latter is essential when the way in which words are used is important. For example, if you were quoting Martin Luther King with his "I have a dream", it would be better to quote him directly, because the way he uses the words in the speech is particularly eloquent and poetic. But if you've read about racism in a stifled textbook, the ideas are important, but not the specific words of the book, and in this case you should use paraphrase.
- Paraphrase is useful for reporting data, facts or statistics. There is no need to cite a source directly, just to show the importance of the data.
- The quote, on the other hand, is useful if you are reporting the words of a political figure, a celebrity or a writer and if you want to take stock of the way the language is used.
- If you are reading a text carefully for its use of language, quotation is better; if, on the other hand, you are commenting on a paragraph or a longer passage of a novel, it is more useful to summarize or paraphrase.
Method 2 of 3: Part 2: Paraphrase the Quote
Step 1. Read the original quote
First, carefully read the quote you chose to paraphrase. It shouldn't be more than two or three sentences long at the most. Take the time to truly absorb all of its meaning and thus gain a deep understanding of what it means before moving on.
Step 2. Take notes
As you continue reading the quote, jot down the main ideas that come to mind. You can write the main topic and some keywords that help you illustrate the content. When you're done taking notes, put the original quote away.
Step 3. Rewrite the original quote in your own words, using your notes and your knowledge of the source
Be careful to mix not only the language, but also the sentence structure, so as to replace one and the other.
If you're stuck and can't find a different way to express something, use a thesaurus. Make sure you are comfortable with the found words and don't use terms that don't have exactly the same meaning as their counterparts. This would change the meaning of your statement
Step 4. Compare the original quote to your paraphrase
Once you have rewritten the passage in your own words, read it aloud, then go back to the original quote and reread it with the new draft alongside. It is necessary to make sure that two points are respected:
- The words of your passage and the structure of your sentences should be quite different if you don't want to be accused of plagiarism. They should fit your style, not the author's.
- Your words must clearly convey the main ideas of the original passage. You shouldn't change the paraphrase so much that you lose its essential meaning.
- Example of an original passage: "These days too many high schoolers spend all their time filling their heads with standardized tests that teach nothing. They would gain more knowledge if they spent more time with the school curriculum instead of studying for learning tests and they would also become more open-minded human beings."
- Paraphrase example: "High school students are so obsessed with studying for aptitude tests and other standardized tests that they don't have time to process the material they learn in school. Studying to pass standardized tests not only gives them little real knowledge, but it prevents them from becoming open-minded individuals."
Method 3 of 3: Part 3: Bring back the quote
Step 1. Use the MLA format:
only the author's surname and page number are sufficient, but you will need to provide further information on the source on the "Cited Works" page at the end of your essay. Here you find how to cite the paraphrase within the text of your work in the MLA style:
Inside the text: "Children should read more books" (Smith 46 - 47)
Step 2. Use the APA style
To quote in this format, you just need to refer to the author's surname and publication date. You will provide further information about the source on your "References" page. Here's how it's done:
"According to Smith (2007), children should read more books" or "Children should read more books" (Smith, 2007)
Advice
- This technique can be applied to any form of writing. It doesn't matter if you are in elementary school, high school, university or at work.
- Paraphrasing means using another author's ideas and rephrasing them - that's why you still have to report the source. The only difference from direct quotation is the absence of quotation marks, but the latter is rarely used.
- Read examples of quotes and paraphrases in your textbook to learn how.
- Quoting an actual conversation in an essay is not recommended, while it may be effective in literature or comedy commentary.
