Quoting, Paraphrasing and
Summarizing
An Introduction
What’s the difference?
• Quotations must be identical to the original. They must match
the source document word for word and must be attributed to
the original author.
• Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing is re-writing another writer’s words or
ideas in your own words without altering the meaning. The
paraphrase is about the same length as the original since the
purpose is to rephrase without leaving out anything.
Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage,
taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and
condensing it slightly.
• Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own
words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is
necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source.
Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a
broad overview of the source material. Purpose is to include only
the main points of the original work and to leave out the
irrelevant. A summary is usually about one-third the size of the
original.
Why do we use them?
• Paraphrasing and summarizing are both
indispensable writing tools. They are
both techniques of incorporating other
writers’ works or ideas into your writing
using your own words. Although a writer
must always use his/her own ideas when
writing, sometimes it becomes necessary
to use other writers’ thoughts and
concepts.
This may be due to one or more
of the following reasons:
• To provide support to your own ideas
• To give reasons of why you agree or disagree with
something
• To give depth to your writing
• To refer to something that led to your ideas
• To give a point of view which is different from yours
• give examples of several points of view on a subject
• highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or
passage by quoting the original
Now when should you paraphrase
and when should you summarize?
• Paraphrase when:
• You want to use another writer’s words
without plagiarizing
• You want to use another writer’s words
without the use of quotes
• The ideas of the other writer are more
important than his/her style
• You think that the words of the other
writer are too difficult for your readers
• Summarize when:
• You want to identify only the main
ideas of the writer
• You want to give an overview of the
topic (from several sources)
• You want to simplify a complex
argument
• You want to condense the matter to
suit your requirement
Make sure to…
• Cite them to avoid using others’ ideas and words
without clearly acknowledging the source of that
information.
– To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use:
• another person’s idea, opinion, or theory;
• any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings—any pieces of
information—that are not common knowledge;
• quotations of another person’s actual spoken or
written words; or
• paraphrase of another person’s spoken or written
words.
Example
•
Here’s the ORIGINAL text, from page 1 of Lizzie Borden: A Case Book of
Family and Crime in the 1890s by Joyce Williams et al.:
• The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the
expansion of the population were the three great
developments of late nineteenth century American
history. As new, larger, steam-powered factories
became a feature of the American landscape in the
East, they transformed farm hands into industrial
laborers, and provided jobs for a rising tide of
immigrants. With industry came urbanization the
growth of large cities (like Fall River, Massachusetts,
where the Bordens lived) which became the centers of
production as well as of commerce and trade.
Good or Bad? What do you think?
• The increase of industry, the growth of
cities, and the explosion of the
population were three large factors of
nineteenth century America. As steamdriven companies became more visible in
the eastern part of the country, they
changed farm hands into factory workers
and provided jobs for the large wave of
immigrants. With industry came the
growth of large cities like Fall River
where the Bordens lived which turned
into centers of commerce and trade as
well as production.
That was a bad paraphrase
WHY????
• The preceding passage is considered plagiarism for
two reasons:
• the writer has only changed around a few words and
phrases, or changed the order of the original’s
sentences.
• the writer has failed to cite a source for any of the
ideas or facts.
• If you do either or both of these things, you are
plagiarizing.
NOTE: This paragraph is also problematic because it
changes the sense of several sentences (for example,
"steam-driven companies" in sentence two misses the
original’s emphasis on factories).
Good or Bad?
• Here’s the ORIGINAL text, from page 1 of Lizzie
Borden: A Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890s
by Joyce Williams et al.:
• The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the
expansion of the population were the three great
developments of late nineteenth century American
history. As new, larger, steam-powered factories
became a feature of the American landscape in the
East, they transformed farm hands into industrial
laborers, and provided jobs for a rising tide of
immigrants. With industry came urbanization the
growth of large cities (like Fall River, Massachusetts,
where the Bordens lived) which became the centers of
production as well as of commerce and trade
• What do you think?
Good or bad?
Fall River, where the Borden family lived,
was typical of northeastern industrial cities
of the nineteenth century. Steam-powered
production had shifted labor from
agriculture to manufacturing, and as
immigrants arrived in the US, they found
work in these new factories. As a result,
populations grew, and large urban areas
arose. Fall River was one of these
manufacturing and commercial centers
(Williams, 2001).
This was a good paraphrase
WHY????
• This is acceptable paraphrasing because
the writer:
• accurately relays the information in the
original uses her own words.
• lets the reader know the source of
his/her information.
Questions??
Summarizing
Steps to summarize
• Record the author, title, year of publication and source of the text.
• Skim the text. Note any sub-headings, or try to divide the text
into sections.
• Read the text carefully. Use a dictionary if necessary, and be
prepared to read very difficult texts more than once.
• Pay special attention to the first and last paragraphs. Try to
identify the main idea or argument.
• Identify the topic sentence in each paragraph.
• Identify the main support for the topic sentence.
• Write the topic sentence of your summary. Include the author’s
name, the title of the text, the year of publication and the
author’s main idea or argument
But today let’s focus on
paraphrasing
• Three criteria for a good paraphrase
• 1. It has the same meaning as the original
(all main ideas included and no new idea
added)
• 2. Is different enough from the original to
be considered your own writing. (Uses no
more than four or five words in a row from
the original source. Changes grammar and
vocabulary as much as possible)
• 3. refers directly to (or cites) the original
source. (Include the name of the author
and/or the name of the source.
Paraphrasing
6 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. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you
later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note
card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your
paraphrase.
• 4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your
version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new
form.
• 5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or
phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
• 6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so
that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the
material into your paper.
Practical advice.
- Change sentence structure
- Change words (Thesaurus.com) – use
words that you are familiar with.
- Use an English-English dictionary to get
some idea.
(1)Now you try
• Original: As the chain [McDonald’s]
expanded nationwide in the mid-1960’s, it
sought to cut labor costs, reduce the
number of suppliers, and ensure that its
fries tasted the same at every restaurant. –
Scholosser, Eric, “Why McDonald’s Fries
Taste So Good” 2002
• Paraphrase this on a separate sheet of
paper….
Compare your paraphrases to
this…
• Schlosser (2002) writes that while
McDonald’s spread all over the country
during the 1960’s, the company tried to
spend less on its workers, get its
supplies from fewer sources, and
guarantee that its French fries always
tasted the same.
(2)Try another one
• Original: Many of the doctors taking part
in the survey on assisted suicide
doubted whether they could decide if a
patient had less than six months to live.
– “The Anguish of Doctors” 1996
• Your paraphrase:
Compare this with your
paraphrase
• According to a survey on assisted suicide
in The Anguish of Doctors (1996), many
doctors disagree with assisted suicide
because they can’t know when a patient
will die.
Another paraphrasing
technique
• “Tell a friend method”
1. Read the original and concentrate on what
it means.
2. Cover the original so that you cannot see
it.
3. Imagine you are talking to a good friend.
How would you explain this idea to your
friend? Write down your explanation.
4. Go back and reread the original to see if it
means the same as your paraphrase.
Let’s try
• Original: Leadership by birth order
apparently hold for both genders.
Studies have found that female
executives are much more likely to be
firstborns that later-borns. – Koselka, Rita
and Shook, Carrie, “Born to Rebel? Or
Born to Conserve?” 1997
• Now, tell this to your partner.
Compare your paraphrase with
this
• Not only firstborn men, but also firstborn
women are more likely to be executives
than people who are later born (Koselka
& Shook, 1997).
•  Notice that while they key ideas from
the original are included in the
paraphrase, the structure of the
paraphrase is very different.
Another method: Chunking
method (For longer passages)
• 1. Read the original passage several times to
develop a basic understanding of the ideas.
• 2. Divide the passage into chunks by underlining
main ideas. (As you divide the passage, focus
on phrases rather than on individual words)
• 3. Explain each chunk using your own words.
• 4. Combine these explanations into one or more
sentences to create a paraphrase.
– As you combine these chunks, you will need to
think about how the ideas are related to each other.
– It is okay to rearrange these chunks into a new
order for you paraphrase.
• (1)As the chain , [McDonald’s] expanded
nationwide, in the mid-1960’’s, (2) it sought
to cut labor costs, (3) reduce the number of
suppliers, and (4) ensure that its fries tasted
the same at every restaurant. (5)
McDonald’s began switching to frozen
French fries in 1966-and (6) few customers
noticed the difference. (7) Nevertheless, the
change had a profound effect on the
nation’s (8) agriculture and diet. –Scholosser,
Eric, “Why McDonald’s Fries Taste So Good”
2002
Paraphrase each chunk one at a time.
Compare your paraphrase to
these paraphrased chunks
1.
2.
3.
4.
McDonald’s spread all over the country during the 1960’s.
The company tried to spend less on its workers.
It got its supplies from fewer sources.
It wanted to guarantee that its French fries always tasted
the same.
5. The company started using frozen French fries.
6. Not many people realized the change had been made.
7. But using frozen fries ultimately had a big influence.
8. It influenced U.S. farming and eating habits.
After you have divided them into chunks, you reword them in
chunks. One at a time.
Try this one. I divided this to 3 ch
unks for you.
(1) There is an element of sacrifice and
obligation: women are expected to (2)
make many things secondary (3) once the
husband comes along, to devote their
energies to him and his house and the
building of another family Unit. - Wark,
Penny, “What Does Life Tell Us About
Love?” 2003
Compare your paraphrase to this
one
• 1. Women must give up time and energy for
themselves.
• 2. After women get married
• 3. Women are expected to focus on taking
care of their husband, home, and children.
(2) After they get married, (1) women must
give up time and energy for themselves because
(3) they are expected to focus on taking care of
their husband, home, and children (Wark, 2003).
Notice the chunks have been arranged in an
order that is different from the original.
Now you try.
• Original: Often procrastination stems
from a real or imagined fear or worry
that is focused not so much on the thing
you are avoiding, but its potential
consequences. – Moore, Rebecca; Baker,
Barbara; Packer, Arnold, “coping With
Procrastination” 1997