Paraphra and Summarykeepfit
When should I paraphra, and when should I summarize?
University College
Writing Workshop
Handouts on Writing To paraphra means to express someone el’s ideas in your own language. To summarize means to distill only the most esntial points of someone el’s work.
cretary
Paraphra and summary are indispensable tools in essay writing becau they allow you to include other people’s ideas without cluttering up your essay with quotations. They help you take greater control of your essay. Consider relying on either tool when an idea from one of your sources is
important to your essay but the wording is not. You should be guided in your choice of which tool to u
by considerations of space. But above all, think about how much of the detail from your source is relevant to your argument. If all your reader needs to know is the bare bones, then summarize.
Ultimately, be sure not to rely too heavily on either paraphra or summary. Your ideas are what matter most. Allow yourlf the space to develop tho ideas.
How do I paraphra?
Whenever you paraphra, remember the two points:
英语手抄报1. You must provide a reference.
2. The paraphra must be entirely in your own words. You must do more than merely substitute
phras here and there. You must also completely alter the ntence structure.
It can be difficult to find new words for an idea that is already well expresd. The following
strategy will make the job of paraphrasing a lot easier:
1. When you are at the note-taking stage, and you come across a passage that may be uful for
your essay, do not copy the passage verbatim unless you think you will want to quote it.
2. If you think you will want to paraphra the passage, make a note only of the author's basic用英文打电话
point. You don’t even need to u full ntences.
3. In your note, you should already be translating the language of the original into your own
words. What matters is that you capture the original idea.
4. Make sure to include the page number of the original passage so that you can make a proper
reference later on.
longs>live是什么意思When it comes time to write the paper, rely on your notes rather than on the author's work. You will find it much easier to avoid borrowing from the original passage becau you will not have recently en it. Follow this simple quence:
1. Convert the ideas from your notes into full ntences.
2. Provide a reference.
3. Go back to the original to ensure that (a) your paraphra is accurate and (b) you have truly said
things in your own words.
Let’s look at examples of illegitimate and legitimate paraphra. The original passage is from
Oliver Sacks’ essay “An Anthropologist on Mars”:
The cau of autism has also been a matter of dispute. Its incidence is about one in a thousand, and it occurs throughout the world, its features remarkably consistent even in extremely different cultures. It is often not recognized in the first year of life, but tends to become obvious in the cond or third year. Though Asperger regarded it as a biological defect of affective contact — innate, inborn,
analogous to a physical or intellectual defect — Kanner tended to view it as a psychogenic disorder, a reflection of bad parenting, and most especially of a chillingly remote, often professional,
“refrigerator mother.” At this time, autism was often regarded as “defensive” in nature, or confud with childhood schizophrenia. A whole generation of parents — mothers, particularly — were made to feel guilty for the autism of their children.
What follows is an example of illegitimate paraphra :
The cau of the condition autism has been disputed. It occurs in approximately one in a thousand children, and it exists in all parts of the world, its characteristics strikingly similar in vastly
differing cultures. The condition is often not noticeable in the child’s first year, yet it becomes more apparent as the child reaches the ages of two or three. Although Asperger saw the condition as a
biological defect of the emotions that was inborn and therefore similar to a physical defect, Kanner saw it as psychological in origin, as reflecting poor parenting and particularly a frigidly distant mother. During this period, autism was often en as a defen mechanism, or it was misdiagnod as childhood schizophrenia. An entire generation of mothers and fathers (but especially mothers) were made to feel responsible for their offspring’s autism (Sacks 247-48).
Most of the ntences do little more than substitute one phra for another. An additional problem with this passage is that the only citation occurs at the very end of the last ntence in the paragraph. The reader might be misled into thinking that the earlier ntences were not also indebted to Sacks’ essay.
otdrThe following reprents a legitimate paraphra of the original passage:
In “An Anthropologist on Mars,” Sacks lists some of the known facts about autism. We know, for example, that the condition occurs in roughly one out of every thousand children. We also know that the characteristics of autism do not vary from one culture to the next. And we know that the condition is difficult to diagno until the child has entered its cond or third year of life. As Sacks points out, often a child who goes on to develop autism will still appear perfectly normal at the age of one (247).
Sacks obrves, however, that rearchers have had a hard time agreeing on the caus of autism. He sketches the diametrically oppod positions of Asperger and Kanner. On the one hand, Asperger saw the condition as reprenting a constitutional defect in the child’s ability to make meaningful emotional contact with the external world. On the other hand, Kanner regarded autism as a conquence of harmful childrearing practices. For many years confusion about this condition reigned. One unfortunate conquence of this confusion, Sacks suggests, was the burden of guilt impod on so many parents for their child’s condition (247-448).
Notice that this passage makes explicit right from the beginning that the ideas belong to Sacks, and the passage’s indebtedness to him is signaled in more than one place. The single parenthetical note at the end of each paragraph is therefore all the citation that is needed. The inclusion of explicit references to Sacks not only makes the job of providing citations easier. It also strengthens the pass
age by clarifying the source of its facts and ideas. And it adds an analytical dimension to the paragraph: the passage doesn’t just reiterate the points in Sacks’ passage but lays out the structure of his argument. Note that the paraphra splits the original into two parate paragraphs to accentuate the two-part structure of Sacks’ argument. Finally, notice that not all the details from the original passage are included in the paraphra.小学一年级英语教材
How do I summarize?
Summary moves much farther than paraphra away from point-by-point translation. When you summarize a passage, you need first to absorb the meaning of the passage and then to capture in your own words the most important elements from the original passage. A summary is necessarily shorter than a paraphra.
Here is a summary of the passage from “An Anthropologist on Mars”:
In “An Anthropologist on Mars,” Sacks notes that although there is little disagreement on the chief characteristics of autism, rearchers have differed considerably on its caus. As he points out, Asperger saw the condition as an innate defect in the child’s ability to connect with the external world, whereas Kanner regarded it as a conquence of harmful childrearing practices (247-48).
ipqcPrepared 2002 by Jerry Plotnick, Director of the University College Writing Workshop.青岛新东方英语学校
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