Paraphrasing
Putting the Author’s Idea in Your Words
What Is Paraphrasing?
Paraphrasing is restating a text in your own words.
Paraphrasing allows you to
•gain a better understanding of a text, especially if the text
uses archaic, difficult, or unfamiliar words
•cite an author’s ideas in your own writing without directly
quoting the author’s words
Paraphrase—Don’t Plagiarize!
•To plagiarize is to copy a writer’s ideas, word choices,
and sentence structures without crediting the writer.
•To avoid plagiarizing, give the writer credit and use your
words and sentence structures to capture the text’s
meaning.
•Original text: “The school counselor advises college-bound
students to tour the campuses of prospective universities.”
•Poor paraphrase: The school counselor is advising all collegebound students to take campus tours of prospective universities.
•Good paraphrase: According to the school counselor, students
should tour the campuses of universities that they’re interested in
attending.
Preparing to Paraphrase
Before you paraphrase,
•identify the main idea of the passage
•define any unfamiliar words
•re-read and clarify any confusing sentences
How to Paraphrase
Follow these steps to paraphrase a text:
1. Identify all major ideas and important details.
2. Replace unfamiliar, difficult, or outdated words or
phrases.
3. Simplify the sentence structures, and use your own
words to restate the sentences in a different way.
4. Check to make sure you have maintained the meaning
and tone or mood of the original text.
Let’s Practice
Step 1: Identify all major ideas and important details.
Goodness answers to the theological virtue charity, and admits no
excess, but error. The desire of power in excess caused the angels to
fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall: but in charity
there is no excess; neither can angel nor man come in danger by it.
The inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in the nature of man;
insomuch that if it issue not towards men, it will take unto other living
creatures. . . .
from “Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature” by Francis Bacon
Let’s Practice
Step 2: Replace unfamiliar, difficult, or outdated words or
phrases.
Goodness answers to the theological virtue charity, and admits no
excess, but error. The desire of power in excess caused the angels to
fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall: but in charity
there is no excess; neither can angel nor man come in danger by it.
The inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in the nature of man;
insomuch that if it issue not towards men, it will take unto other living
creatures. . . .
from “Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature” by Francis Bacon
Let’s Practice
Step 3: Simplify the sentence structures and use your own
words to restate the sentence in a different way.
Goodness answers to the theological virtue charity, and admits no
excess, but error. The desire of power in excess caused the angels to
fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall: but in charity
there is no excess; neither can angel nor man come in danger by it.
The inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in the nature of man;
insomuch that if it issue not towards men, it will take unto other living
creatures. . . .
from “Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature” by Francis Bacon
Let’s Practice
Step 4: Check to make sure you have maintained the
meaning and tone or mood of the original text.
Goodness corresponds to the Christian ideal of charity. It cannot be
overused, but it can be used wrongly. The angels fell because they
wanted too much power. Man fell because he wanted too much
knowledge, but no one can be harmed by too much charity because
charity cannot be overused. People have such a natural tendency to be
good that if they aren’t good to other people, they will be good to other
living things.
On Your Own
Use the four steps you just learned to paraphrase this
passage.
Revenge is a kind of wild justice; which the more man’s nature runs to,
the more ought law to weed it out. For as for the first wrong, it doth but
offend the law; but the revenge of that wrong putteth the law out of
office. Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy;
but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince’s part to
pardon. . . . That which is past is gone, and irrevocable; and wise men
have enough to do with things present and to come; therefore they do
but trifle with themselves, that labor in past matters.
from “Of Revenge” by Francis Bacon
The End