NUPSA
Workshop 2
November 6 2014
Summarising and paraphrasing: activities
Activities 1 & 2: on slides 2 & 4
Activity 3:
Summarising and avoiding plagiarism
Extract 1 is about the traditional Aboriginal owners of the Sydney region. It is from the City of
Sydney website.
One student wanted to summarise this information for his assignment. Extract 2 is what he wrote.
Extract 1: From the Internet site
The traditional owners of the Sydney City region are the Cadigal band. Their land south of Port
Jackson stretches from South Head to Petersham. The 'Eora people' was the name given to the
coastal Aborigines around Sydney. The word Eora simply means 'here' or 'from this place'. Local
Aboriginal people used the word to describe to the British where they came from and so the word
was then used to define the Aboriginal people themselves.
Extract 2: From the student's assignment
The Cadigal are the traditional owners of the Sydney City region. The Cadigal were part of a larger
group of people occupying the Sydney basin who referred to themselves as Eora, which literally
means 'people from here'.
Question (a): Is the student’s summary acceptable? Give reasons for your answer.
___________________________________________________________________
Extract 3: From the student’s assignment
The Cadigal are the traditional owners of the Sydney City region. The Cadigal were part of a larger
group of people occupying the Sydney basin who referred to themselves as Eora, which, literally
means 'people from here' (City of Sydney 2002).
Question (b): Is the student’s second attempt acceptable? Give reasons for your answer.
________________________________________________________________________
Available: http://cfsites1.uts.edu.au/uts/avoidingplagiarism/tutorial/summarising.cfm
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Activity 4:
How paraphrasing works – on the hyperlink slide 6
http://www.une.edu.au/tlc/aso/aso-online/academic-writing/paraphrasing.php
Activity 5:
Paraphrasing
Read this extract from an original source.
As a result of the unsound use of land, deserts are creeping outward in Africa, Asia and Latin
America. Worse, the productive capability of vast, dry regions in both rich and poor countries is
falling (Andrews,2003).
Discuss the paraphrases below. Choose the appropriate description of what has been done by the
paraphraser in each case.
Condense, Clarify, Interpret;
Comment, Evaluate, Compare with other sources;
Substitute synonyms for original vocabulary; Change structure;
Change order of items
a). ________________________________________________
Due to the improper use of land, deserts are gradually expanding in Africa, Asia and
Latin America. Worse, the productive capability of large, arid areas in both First and Third
World nations is falling (Andrews, 2003).
b)___________________________________________________
Improper land use is leading to the gradual expansion of deserts in Africa, Asia and
Latin America. Worse, the capacity of large, arid areas in both First and Third World
nations to produce is falling (Andrews 2003).
c). _____________________________________________________
The gradual expansion of deserts in Africa, Asia and Latin America is the result of
improper land use. Worse, there is a decline in the capacity of large, arid areas in both First
and Third World nations to produce (Andrews 2003).
d). ________________________________________________________
Andrews (2003) argues that improper land use is the cause of both the gradual
desertification of the world’s temperate regions and the productive decline of the extensive
arid areas of both rich and poor countries.
e) __________________________________________________________
Despite Andrews’ (2003) argument that improper land use is the major cause of
gradual desertification and productive decline of extensive arid regions throughout the
world, several new perspectives have emerged.
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