PARAPHRASING adapted from University of Wisconsin Writing Center

IMPORTANCE IN ACADEMIC WRITING NEED TO EXPRESS IDEAS FROM SOURCES IN YOUR OWN WORDS TO AVOID EXCESSIVE USE OF DIRECT QUOTATIONS

WHEN TO PARAPHRASE PARAPHRASE WHEN THE IDEA IS IMPORTANT BUT NOT THE WORDING. BE GUIDED BY HOW MUCH OF THE INFORMATION IS RELEVANT AND WHICH HELPS YOU SUPPORT A POINT.

HOW TO PARAPHRASE-STEP 1 BE SELECTIVE. PROVIDE A REFERENCE. IT MUST BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

HOW TO PARAPHRASE-STEP 1 CON’T. THINK OF WHAT ‘YOUR OWN WORDS’ WOULD BE IF TELLING SOMEONE WHO KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THE SUBJECT YOU CAN USE DIRECT QUOTATIONS WITHIN YOUR PARAPHRASE (but not with Essay 1)

HOW TO PARAPHRASE-STEP 2 READ THE PART YOU WANT TO PARAPHRASE UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND IT COMPLETELY. LOOK AWAY AND WRITE IT DOWN IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

HOW TO PARAPHRASE-STEP 3 IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO SLOT IN SYNONYMS, YOU MUST ALSO CHANGE THE STRUCTURE. FIRST, CHANGE THE STRUCTURE AND THEN USE SYNONYMS.

HOW TO CHANGE THE STRUCTURE-EXAMPLE Look at this passage from Love and Toil by Ellen Ross. Love and Toil maintains that family survival was the mother’s main charge among the large majority of London’s population who were poor or working class. Now you begin with: Among the majority of London’s poor or working class…

EXAMPLE OF POSSIBLE RESTRUCTURED SENTENCE Among the majority of London’s poor and working class, family survival was the mother’s main charge. NOW CHANGE THE WORDS I HAVE UNDERLINED

CHANGING THE WORDS Poor and working class →the poor or poor people Among the majority→ most of Poor and working class →the poor or poor people main →principal charge →duty NOW REWRITE AGAIN-CAREFUL OF GRAMMAR

ALMOST DONE PARAPHRASE For most of London’s poor, family survival was the mother’s principal duty. We still have a problem because ‘‘family survival was the mother’s’’ still needs to be changed or it is considered plagiarism. Try to change the structure again. Begin the part after ‘poor,’ with ‘the mother’s..

PARAPHRASED For most of London’s poor, the mother’s principal duty was the survival of the family.

ANOTHER POSSIBILITY According to Ross, in London, mothering was defined by economic status, and among the poor, a mother’s foremost responsibility was to provide food and shelter to meet the basic requirements for survival (23).

FINAL NOTES Use synonyms or a phrase that to change the structure further expresses the same meaning. It’s important to start by changing the structure, not the words although you might find that as you change the words, you see ways.

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