Paraphrase WritingBe different, yet the same

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, the students

should be able to:1) define what a paraphrase is;

2) detail the steps in paraphrasing;

3) identify some errors in paraphrasing; and

4) write accurate paraphrase.

Paraphrase defined

“restatement of a text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another form”

- Merriam Webster Online Dictionary

Paraphrase defined

“a full-length (complete) restatement or rewording of a passage.”

“rewrites the passage; but it presents the exact meaning or intention of the selection, and explains if necessary, what the original passage did not state so plainly.”

State it in other ways"In the famous sketch from the TV show 'Monty

Python's Flying Circus,' the actor John Cleese had many ways of saying a parrot was dead:

‘This parrot is no more,'

'He's expired and gone to meet his maker,'

‘His metabolic processes are now history.'

Paraphrase involves…

Translating from one register of language to another

From scientific to ordinary layman’s terms From literary or poetic style to common

discourse From archaic writing to present usage From slang to standard English

Guess what this is…

Scintillate, scintillate globule aurific Fair would I fathom thy nature specific Loftily poised in the ether capacious

Strongly resembling a gem carbonaceous Scintillate, scintillate globule aurific

Fair would I fathom thy nature specific

Scintillate, scintillate globule aurific

Fair would I fathom thy nature specific Loftily poised in the

ether capacious Strongly resembling a

gem carbonaceous Scintillate, scintillate

globule aurific Fair would I fathom thy nature specific

Why paraphrase? Your ability to restate ideas in your

words shows you understand the subject matter.

You also demonstrate how your own ideas relate to and build on the ideas of other scholars.

Paraphrasing is really about:

Understanding a passageInternalizing the meaning of the textRestating the important points in your

own voice

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD PARAPHRASE

1• May be longer, shorter, or as long as

the original selection.

Length is not a consideration for as long as the paraphrase simplifies and explains the full meaning of a selection

2• Maintains the tone of the original

passage.

The rewording remains faithful to the attitude of the writer.

3• Uses simple vocabulary

The syntax (or sentence structure and order) is also simple. The expression and flow of thought comes across as clear.

4• Wording must be different from the

original passage as much as possible.

Challenge of paraphrasing is:

To be different but the same!

5

• Must not contain information that is not in the original, but must not leave out important ideas found in the original

Not a tool for writer’s self expression

HOW TO PARAPHRASE

How to Paraphrase• Read the source carefully. It is essential

that you understand it fully.

• Identify the main point(s) and key words.

• Try the “look away” approach.

TECHNIQUES FOR PARAPHRASING

Note: An effective paraphrase includes more than one of these techniques. If you use only one of these techniques when paraphrasing, you have not paraphrased effectively.

1. Change a word from one part of speech to another

Original: Medical professor John Swanson says that global changes are influencing the spread of disease.

Paraphrase: According to John Swanson, a professor of medicine, changes across the globe are causing diseases to spread (James, 2004).

2. Use SynonymsOriginal: The U.S. government declared that the AIDS

crisis poses a national security threat. The announcement followed an intelligence report that found high rates of HIV infection could lead to widespread political destabilization.

Paraphrase: The government of the United States announced that AIDS could harm the nation's security. The government warned the population after an important governmental study concluded that political problems may arise from large numbers of people infected with HIV (Snell, 2005).

3. Change numbers and percentages to different forms.

Original: Minority groups in the United States have been hit hardest by the epidemic. African Americans, who make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, accounted for 46 percent of the AIDS cases diagnosed in 1998.

Paraphrase: The AIDS epidemic has mostly affected minorities in the United States. For example, in 1998, less than 15 percent of the total population was African, but almost half of the people diagnosed with AIDS in the United States that year were African America (Jenson, 2000).

4. Change word order (e.g., change from active to passive voice and move modifiers to

different positions.

Original: Angier (2001) reported that malaria kills more than one million people annually, the overwhelming majority of them children in sub‐Saharan Africa.

Paraphrase: Every year, more than a million people are killed by malaria, and most of the victims are

children who live in sub‐Saharan Africa (Angier, as cited in Lee, 2004).

5. Use different definition structures.

Original: Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease caused by a bacterium transmitted by ticks (small bloodsucking arachnids that attach themselves to larger animals). The disease is usually characterized by a rash followed by flu‐like symptoms, including fever, joint pain, and headache.

Paraphrase: Lyme disease‐a disease that causes swelling and redness‐is caused by a bacterium carried by a small arachnid known as a tick. The ticks attach to and suck the blood of animals and humans, transferring some of the Lyme disease bacteria into their hosts and causing symptoms similar to the flu (Wald, 2005).

6. Use different attribution signals.

Original: “That’s because there are so many different ways the diseases could have arrived,” veterinarian Mark Walters declared in his recent book, Six Modern Plagues.

Paraphrase: According to Mark Walters, a veterinarian who wrote Six Modern Plagues, the disease could have arrived in numerous ways (Peterson, 2004).

7. Change the sentence structure, and use different connecting words

Original: Although only about one‐tenth of the world’s population lives there, sub‐Saharan Africa remains the hardest hit region, accounting for 72 percent of the people infected with HIV during 2000.

Paraphrase: Approximately 10 percent of the world’s population resides in sub‐Saharan Africa. However, this area of the world has the highest percentage of AIDS‐related illnesses. In fact, in 2000, almost three-fourths of the population had the HIV virus (Bunting, 2004).

8. Do not change key terms or proper nouns.

Original: In the northeastern United States, people are building homes on the edge of woods, where ticks that carry Lyme disease hitch rides on deer. In addition, in Africa, hunters bring back the meat of animals that scientists think may transmit Ebola, a usually fatal disease that causes massive hemorrhaging in its victims.

Paraphrase: In the United States, residential areas are being built near wooded areas in the northeast. These areas are also the homes of ticks carrying Lyme disease. Also, according to scientists, hunters in Africa kill animals that may carry the Ebola virus (an often fatal virus that causes massive hemorrhaging) (Yaya, 2004).

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES

FOR SELF-STUDY

Original Plagiarism Paraphrasing

Because of their unique perspective, Americans fear globalization less than anyone else, and as a consequence they think about it less than anyone else. When Americans do think about globalization, they think of the global economy as an enlarged version of the American economy.

(Source: Thurow, L. (1993). Fortune Favors the Bold (p. 6). New York: Harper Collins.)

According to Lester Thurow (1993) Americans fear globalization less than people from other countries and as a consequence spend less time thinking about it. Indeed, Americans see globalization as an enlarged version of their own economy. 

Lester Thurow (1993) maintains that because Americans see globalization simply as a bigger form of their own economy, they are less concerned about it than is the rest of the world.

Why is this acceptable?

The writer has kept the meaning of the original passage without copying words or structure.

Words like globalization and Americans are generic terms (i.e., terms that are commonly used for the concept they illustrate - it is difficult to find synonyms for them). Thus you may use these words without placing them in quotation marks.

Original Acceptable Paraphrase 1

Acceptable Paraphrase 2

Like drought, excess rainfall and flooding can also contribute to epidemics of waterborne infectious diseases, in this case due to poor sanitation resulting from runoff from overwhelmed sewage lines or the contamination of water by livestock.

(Source:  Shuman, E., M.D. (2010, March 25). Global climate change and infectious diseases.  New England Journal of Medicine; 362, 12, 1061-1063. Retrieved from nejm.org at MIT Libraries.)

Used Synonyms

An overabundance of rainfall can also be a factor in spreading infectious diseases carried by water, usually as a result of overflowing sewers and pollution from farm animals (Shuman, 2010).

Changed Sentence Structure

When there is an overabundance of rainfall, two situations can occur: sewers can overflow and water can become polluted by the presence of livestock, both of which can lead to outbreaks of waterborne diseases (Shuman, 2010).

Original Acceptable Paraphrase

Current political and economic incentives favor industry and other interest groups at the expense of health: consider the subsidies paid for corn-based agriculture and mass-produced processed foods, the tobacco revenue generated in countries with a government-owned tobacco industry, industrial growth in the face of environmental pollution, and the spread of the sedentary automobile-and-television culture.

(Source:  Venkat Narayan, K.M., Ali, M.K., and Koplan, J.  (2010, September 23).  Global noncommunicable diseases – where worlds meet. The New England Journal of Medicine, 363; 13. 1196-1198. Retrieved from nejm.org at MIT Libraries.)

Changed Voice and Changed Parts of Speech

Researchers point out that in attempting to implement economic growth, industry is often favored over health: government may subsidize certain forms of agriculture and food production, contribute to tobacco consumption in nations where it owns the industry and otherwise promote growth of industries that pollute. (Venkat Narayan et. al, 2011).

OriginalAcceptable Paraphrase: Changed

Clause to Phrase

The prevalence and impact of non-communicable diseases continue to grow.  Chronic diseases account for 60% of all deaths worldwide, and 80% of these deaths occur in low-or middle-income countries, where the toll is disproportionate during the prime productive years of youth and middle age.

(Source:  Venkat Narayan, K.M., , Ali, M.K., and Koplan, J.  (2010, September 23).  Global noncomunicable diseases – where worlds meet. The New England Journal of Medicine, 363; 13. 1196-1198. Retrieved from nejm.org at MIT Libraries.)

The increasing spread of non-communicable diseases can be seen in figures that show these diseases are responsible for 60% of all deaths on the planet, and that in countries where the population is primarily of low or middle income, the impact is greatest, often focusing on those who are young or middle-aged (Venkat Narayan et. al, 2011).

OriginalAcceptable Paraphrase

#1Acceptable Paraphrase #2

We do not yet understand all the ways in which brain chemicals are related to emotions and thoughts, but the salient point is that our state of mind has an immediate and direct effect on our state of body.

(Source: Siegel, B. (1986).Love, Medicine and Miracles (p. 69). New York: Harper and Row.)

Siegel (1986) writes that although the relationship between brain chemistry and thoughts and feelings is not fully understood, we do know that our psychological state affects our physical state. 

What did the writer do?•Used synonyms•Changed sentence structure•Changed voice•Cited sourceWords like brain are generic and do not need to be changed.

Siegel (1986) writes that the relationship between the chemicals in the brain and our thoughts and feelings remains only partially understood. He goes on to say, however, that one thing is clear: our mental state affects our bodily state. 

What did the writer do?•Used synonyms•Changed the sentence structure (use two sentences instead of one)•Changed voice•Changed parts of speech•Cited sourceWords like brain and chemicals are generic and do not need to be changed.

OriginalUnacceptable Paraphrase

#1Unacceptable Paraphrase

#2

We do not yet understand all the ways in which brain chemicals are related to emotions and thoughts, but the salient point is that our state of mind has an immediate and direct effect on our state of body. 

(Source: Siegel, B. (1986).Love, Medicine and Miracles (p. 69). New York: Harper and Row.)

Siegel (1986) writes that we still do not know all the ways in which brain chemistry is related to emotions and thoughts, but the important point is that our mental state has an immediate and direct effect on our physical state. 

Why is this unacceptable?•The writer has kept the same exact sentence structure•The writer had only substituted synonyms in certain places; in others the wording is exactly the same as that of the original.

According to Siegel (1986), our mind affects our body quickly and directly, although we do not yet understand every aspect of how brain chemicals relate to emotions and thoughts. 

Why is this unacceptable?•Although the writer has changed the structure of the sentence, key phrases have been taken directly from the original.•Even though the writer mentions the original source in the introductory phrase, the result is plagiarism.

HOMEWORK

Read the original text in the next slide, then

evaluate the acceptability of the three

paraphrase versions that follow.

SUBMIT next meeting (October 6-8).

Write answer in a one half yellow paper crosswise. Use this format:

Acceptable or Unacceptable? Reason

Paraphrase A

Paraphrase B

Paraphrase C

ORIGINAL TEXT

“Deterritorialization (displacement, dislocation or “not being home”) is what one feels when one becomes cognizant or his/her not being of the acceptable mold, of his/her not having an identity (i.e., ‘all-America’) which is reserved only for white Americans of European origins in spite of the rhetoric of American democracy and pluralism. Deterritorialization accompanies the realization that a non-white can never ‘feel at home’ in the US unless he/she accepts the hegemonic culture’s repressive and oppressive processes as it tries to erase differences.”(Excerpt from Short Circuit: Expatriate Themes in Philippine Poetry in English) by Jose Wendell P. Capili as cited in Figuera-Lucero and Moya-Torrecampo, 1999)

A Deterritorialization (displacement, dislocation or ‘not

being home’) is what someone feels when someone becomes aware of his or her not being of the acceptable shape, of his or her not having a name (i.e. ‘all-American’) which is reserved only for fair Americans of European roots in spite of the beauty of American rule of the people and multiplicity. Deterritorialization accompanies the insight that a black can never ‘feel at home’ in the US unless he or she accepts the dominant culture’s suppressive and unfair processes as it tries to blot out dissimilarities.

B When a person feels displaced, dislocated or ‘not home,’ s/he feels

deterritorialized. Deterritorialization is the word used to define the feeling of being out of place. Deterritorialization happens when a person becomes aware of his/her being different from the acceptable ‘all-American’ image and of his/her not having an ‘all-American’ identity. Even if there is a general belief in (but not necessarily practice of) equality in an American democratic society which is made up of people of different races and nationalities, the all-American identity and physical or cultural indicators of these are reserved only for white Americans whose families trace their roots to European origins. Deterritorialization, or the sense of losing or having no place in one’s society, is felt when one realizes that a person with no European-American parentage can never feel s/he is a part of the US society. He/she realizes that s/he will continue to feel out of place unless s/he accepts the subduing and dominating ways through which the more powerful culture tries to remove cultural difference.

C Displacement, dislocation or not being home is what

we might feel when we accept our not being molded like Americans (that is, ‘all-American’ looks such as being blonde, blue-eyed, fair-skinned, and tall), which is only for white Americans of European origins in spite of the lie that America is a free and pluralistic society. Displacement comes side by side with the awareness that members of the Negroid or Mongoloid race can never feel at home in the US unless we accept the more dominant culture’s unhealthy and inhumane processes as it tries to erase other races different from it from the face of the earth.

References:Avoiding Plagiarism – Paraphrasing. (n.d.) Retrieved August 19, 2013,

from http://integrity.mit.edu/academic-writing/avoiding-plagiarism-paraphrasing

Integrating Sources. Techniques for Paraphrasing. (2009). Retrieved from learningcommons.sfu.ca.

Principles of Paraphrasing: How to Avoid Inadvertent Plagiarism in Three Easy Modules. (n.d.) Retrieved August 19, 2013, from http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/~instruct/gutman_library/paraphrasing/module1/player.html

Paraphrase. (2010). In Merriam-Webster online Dictionary. Retrieved August 19, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paraphrase

Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting. (n.d.) Retrieved August 19, 2013, from https://student.unsw.edu.au/paraphrasing-summarising-and-quoting

Figueras-Lucero, A.A. and Moya-Torrecampo, R. (1999). Communication Skills 1. UP Open University: Diliman, Quezon City