Paraphrasing

Misrepresenting Information DO NOT take ideas out of context by omitting crucial information.

Taking Notes Summarize: Restating a general idea Paraphrase: Putting information from the text into your own words Quote: Taking a direct quote from the source (word for word)

Four Phases of Paraphrasing 1. Determine the main idea of the text. **This will help you to avoid misrepresenting the information. 2. Identify the specific information that you want to use. **Determine specific lines/phrases from the text that are most relevant to your argument. 3. Record the information in your own words. 4. Cite the information. **NOTE: Even though you are not directly citing a quote, you are still referring to an idea that is not your own. Make sure that you cite the information so as to avoid plagiarizing.

Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.

“On average, every third day last year a hate crime was reported in Orange County. That may seem like a lot of incidents, and it is, but the 122 crimes reported in 2000 represented an 11% decrease from 1999– and it was the lowest level of cases reported in more than a decade. Why the decrease? Officials generally cite the healthy economy as a factor when there is a drop in reported crimes of all kinds” (“Bring Hate Crime Into the Light”). Let’s Try One

Four Phases of Paraphrasing 1. Determine the main idea: 2. Specific information: (underline in original passage) 3. & 4. Paraphrase with citation: