Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation

How long a Summary should be

No longer than 1/4 of original passage Books or chapters: less than that

If I have to quote a source, how long of a quotation should I use?

No more than 1-2 sentences.

Direct quotation

Record precisely the language of the other

Paraphrasing length

Usually the same length as the passage it's based on

Paraphrasing

express the meaning of (the writer or speaker or something written or spoken) using different words, order and sentence structures.

Plagiarism

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

Ellipsis

three periods (...) indicating the jump of words in a thought or quotation

Brief Summary

A brief restatement in your own words of the content in a passage. It focuses on the central idea of the passage.

Avoid freestanding quotations

A quoted sentence should never stand by itself

Summary or Paraphrase: Must be in your own words

Both

Good Summary has

Brevity- concise Completeness -all parts of the Summary that should be there are there Objectivity- unbiased

How to avoid plagiarism

Cite your sources and use your own words and sentence structure

When should paraphrasing be used and when summary?

It depends on the point you are trying to make. Are you discussing a central idea or are you supporting a point that needs details?

How to write paraphrasing

1. Make sure you understand the source passage 2. Substitute your own words for those of the source passage- synonyms 3. Rearrange the structure of the passage. 4. Use various, different sentence structures from the original.

How to write summaries

1. Read the passage carefully 2. Reread 3. Write 1-3 sentences encompassing the main points of the passage.

When to quote

1. When another writer's language is particularly memorable and not reworkable

Longer Summaries

A restatement in your own words of the main points in the passage that support/explain the central idea. It reflects the order in which the points are stated and emphasizes them. Some important examples maybe included.

Citing

All quotes material All summarized material All paraphrase material Unless common knowledge

Why is paraphrasing important?

It shows your reader that you fully understand the passage and are able to make use of the information.

How often should quotations be used in a research paper?

Rarely. It should mostly be paraphrase and summary.

Quotation

Records exact language used by someone in speech or writing

Graphs and tables themselves are

Summaries

Summary or Paraphrase: Only rewrite the main ideas

Summary

Summary or paraphrase: You can safely leave out examples and sub ideas that were in the original text.

Summary

Purpose of a summary versus a paraphrase

Summary purpose: to present the reader with a brief version of a lengthy source Paraphrase purpose: to clarify and communicate all of the ideas and examples in a passage

In Summary and Paraphrase, you do not have to change words that are unique and don't have common synonyms such as medical terms or proper names

True

What is a good way to check if the paraphrasing is in your own words?

WIRST - Would I really say that?