Summarizing, Paraphrasing,
and Quoting
The building blocks of using your research to
the fullest.
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Summarizing
Paraphrasing
Quoting
Analysis/Relevance
• When a piece of research comes up in your essay, you
will often give it this 4-step treatment to ensure that your
research has a purpose.
How it Works
• Source material is not there to make your
argument or point for you!
• Source material is integrated into your
essay so you can comment on it, analyze
it, and use it to make your argument.
Importante!
• For all 3 techniques, MLA asks that your
attributions be in the present tense.
• Shakespeare writes,
• Johnson argues,
• Smith disagrees with Jones . . .
Continual Present
• Your reader has not read your research. It is your
responsibility to give them a brief overview when you
first introduce a new piece.
• The length of the summary is dependent on:
• How complex the source is
• How much you plan to analyze/discuss the source
• What the audience generally needs to know for your
rhetorical purpose
Summarizing
• It can be helpful to make a brief outline of the article’s main
points to help you see what you need to cover in the summary.
• Edmundson
• Student general attitudes toward their education: disengaged,
wanting entertainment, showing no passion, wanting it easy
• Campuses spending more money on features and amenities than
learning materials/resources
• Professors inability to do their jobs because of fearing the
repercussions from offending, giving a bad grade, or being too
controversial
• College being seen more like a stepping stone to a job than a place
to receive a well rounded education
Preparing to Summarize
• Introduce author by full name only upon first mention
• Use last name only in subsequent mentions
• You can mention who the author is if you think it would
be helpful to the reader
• Give full title of article upon first mention
• You can mention the publication source upon first
mention if you feel it would be helpful to the reader
Summarizing
In John Martin’s article, “Stamping the Butt: The
Dangers of Second Hand Smoke,” he reviews a series of
studies related to the public health issue of smoking in
public. Martin, a leading scholar in public health,
highlights research that discovers a common thread running
through all the studies: second hand smoke is a problem that
the health industry cannot ignore. He proves this claim
through the use of 4 individual studies, all done by major
universities, that studied the health of non-smoking
bartenders who work in bars where smoking is allowed.
Shortened for Powerpoint
Purposes; Yours May be Longer
• Word your summary with your purpose for using the
resource in mind.
• Focus on details that give a broad overview of the entire
article.
• Use summary signaling phrases like:
• Highlights, shows, proves, argues, provides, etc;
• Remember, the audience has probably not read the piece
you are summarizing. Make them feel like they have.
Summarizing
• Takes a statistic, unique point, essential information and
puts it in your own words
• Is more focused than a summary; a paraphrase focuses on
one point or idea
• Paraphrase when the exact wording itself is not as
important as the meaning.
Paraphrase
• Original Source:
• “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.
Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact
transcribing of source materials while taking notes.”
• 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).
Paraphrase
• Original Source:
• “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. Therefore, you should strive to limit the
amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking
notes.”
• Plagiarism:
• Students often use too many direct quotations when they take
notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In
fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of
directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of
source material copied while taking notes.
Paraphrase
• The Rule of 3
• If the information could likely be found in at
least 3 general knowledge places
(encyclopedias, general text books, etc.) then it
does not need citation.
• Cite a paraphrase when it’s a unique point
specific to the resource you’re using.
Paraphrase
• A quote takes the EXACT language from the
source and places it directly into your own paper.
• The exact words must be set off inside “quotation
marks”
• An in-text citation is always needed.
Quoting
• In his famous and influential work the Interpretation of
Dreams, Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal
road to the unconscious" (34), expressing in coded
imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a
process known as the "dream-work" (35). According to
Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored
internally and subjected to coding through layers of
condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind
of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (42).
Quoting
• Quote when the language is particularly
unique and effective; therefore, it would be
a crime to rob the power of the language in
a paraphrase.
When to Quote versus
Paraphrase
• In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, Martin Luther
King Jr. stated, “I have a dream that one day on the red
hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of
former slave owners will be able to sit down together at
the table of brotherhood” (“I Have”).
• Martin Luther King Jr. expressed his desire that former
slaves might one day be able to hang out with former
slave owners (“I Have”).
Q versus P
• Quote when the person has a great amount of authority
about the topic and is showing that he or she agrees with
you.
• You should also quote a direct statement of a point you
disagree with so you can engage that idea through the
quote
• Steve Jobs writes, “Technology without art or the lessons
of the Humanities is soulless.”
Q versus P
• After all this summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting, you are
not done. You’ve laid the base.
• Your S, P, and Q must be immediately followed with your
own analysis of why the source is relevant to your thesis,
argument, and/or objective.
• Most often, your analysis and commentary is directly related
to, or comes out of, the quote you choose to use.
• Length of analysis or discussion should be as long as
necessary. But, should always take as much (too a little bit
more) page real estate as the actual quote does.
The Key
In John Martin’s article, “Stamping the Butt: The Dangers of Second Hand
Smoke,” he reviews a series of studies related to the public health issue of
smoking in public. Martin, a leading scholar in public health, highlights
research that discovers a common thread running through all the studies:
second hand smoke is a problem that the health industry cannot ignore. He
proves this claim through the use of 4 individual studies, all done by major
universities, that studied the health of non-smoking bartenders who work in
bars where smoking is allowed. These studies all list off over 700 known chemical
compounds in second hand smoke (45). Martin reports, “second hand smoke has
higher concentrations of cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) than the smoke
actually taken in by a smoker” (47). Statistics like these make clear how important
workplace laws are in the name of making a safe environment for employees.
Waiters, bartenders, and other restaurant workers cannot avoid this smoke; they need
to be in their place of business to earn a paycheck. While smoking patrons happily
puff away, these innocent employees are forced to breathe in smoke that is actually
more harmful than the smoke inhaled by their customers.
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Summary
Paraphrase
Quote
Analysis tied back to thesis.