Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing What’s the difference?

Quoting  When writing about something someone has already written, you may find that you want to copy something word for word.  If you copy word for word and do not put it in quotation marks and tell your reader where it’s from, you are plagiarizing.  In school, plagiarism can result in loss of points for a project and even off campus suspension.  In college, plagiarism can result in expulsion.  In life, plagiarism is illegal.  A quotation:  Must be word-for-word  Must be in quotation marks  Must have the original author given  Example: In the article about television viewing, psychologist Sam Smith said, “Young children can be greatly affected by what they see on television.”

Paraphrasing  If you want to put something the majority of a piece of writing into your own words, shortening it a bit, but including most of the article, then you are paraphrasing.  Paraphrasing:  involves putting a passage from source material into your own words.  must also be attributed to the original source.  is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.  Example: In the article about television viewing, psychologist Sam Smith said that children can be affected by what they watch on TV. However, he also said that parents have more influence over their kids than the television they watch. He concluded that parents should be aware of what their kids are watching, but should also be sure to teach them what’s right and wrong, rather than relying on television to teach them.

Summarizing  If you want to give a condensed version of an article, then you can summarize.  Summarizing:  involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s).  attributes summarized ideas to the original source.  is significantly shorter than the original and takes a broad overview of the source material.  Example: In Sam Smith’s article about children and television, he said that TV viewing can have an affect on children, but that there needs to be a balance between parenting and television watching.

After reading “The City Beat” on p. 613… (Quote) What happened after Mr. Owner’s proposal? According to N. Parker, “Mr. Owner’s proposal was met with a standing ovation.” (Paraphrase) How does K. Skater feel? According to K. Skater, skating is a real sport that is difficult, especially when they have no place to do it. Skaters can learn to be responsible for themselves. (Summarize) What is the point of this article? According to N. Parker, there are different viewpoints on building a skate park. The skaters want a safe place to skate. The store owners find the skaters to be a threat. The homeowners think the skaters are trouble makers. The parents are defensive of their skaters. The Skate Bowl owner proposed selling protective gear at the park.