Paraphrasing

What is paraphrasing?
Rephrasing or restating information from another source in your own words without changing
the meaning. Usually shorter than the original passage. The shorter or longer content which you
produce in this process is of course, simpler than the original and more immediately graspable.
Paraphrasing has immense academic and professional significance if you can master this art.

Purpose of Paraphrasing
There is a clear difference between paraphrasing and plagiarizing. Many people believe that
putting a piece of text or an idea into ‘their own words’ avoids the issue of plagiarism. The
formal term for putting text or ideas into ‘your own words’ — it is called paraphrasing. The
purpose of paraphrase is often to summarize or simplify the author’s ideas, making them easier
to understand, more approachable. You might also use paraphrase to emphasize a particular idea
or train of thought from the original author’s text.
It is important to be cautious rewriting a piece of information in your own words, or
paraphrasing. Close paraphrase, where trivial changes are made such as substituting similar
words or changing the sentence order, is essentially the same as copying the author’s words
directly. This is not enough to count as an original expression of the idea and is still considered a
form of exact copy plagiarism.

Procedure of Paraphrasing
Read the text carefully. Be sure you understand the text fully.
Put the original text aside and write your paraphrase in your own words. Consider each point of
the original text, how could you rephrase it? Do not simply replace every third or fourth word of
the original passage.
Review your paraphrase. Does it reflect the original text but is in your own words and style? Did
you include all the main points and essential information?
Include an in-text citation in the expected formatting style (APA, MLA, etc.)
Explain why the paraphrased information is important. To do so, ask yourself the following
questions:
What am I trying to show or prove with this information?
Why is it important to what I am saying? What is its significance?
How does this information add to what I am trying to prove in this paragraph?
Use Paraphrasing…
As another option to quoting.
To rewrite someone else's ideas without changing the meaning.
To express someone else's ideas in your own words.
To support claims in your writing.

Sample 1
Here is an example of paraphrasing a paragraph from "Family Values and Feudal Codes: The
Social Politics of America's Twenty-First Century Gangster." Journal of Popular Culture 37.4
(2004) by Ingrid Field Walker, taken from Duke University Libraries.

Original passage:
In The Sopranos, the mob is besieged as much by inner infidelity as it is by the federal
government. Early in the series, the greatest threat to Tony's Family is his own biological family.
One of his closest associates turns witness for the FBI, his mother colludes with his uncle to
contract a hit on Tony, and his kids click through Web sites that track the federal crackdown in
Tony's gangland.

Paraphrased passage:
In the first season of The Sopranos, Tony Soprano's mobster activities are more threatened by
members of his biological family than by agents of the federal government. This familial
betrayal is multi-pronged. Tony's closest friend and associate is an FBI informant, his mother
and uncle are conspiring to have him killed, and his children are surfing the Web for information
about his activities.

Sample 2
Original paragraph from Nancy Woloch's book, Women and the American Experience: A
Concise History:
“The feminization of clerical work and teaching by the turn of the century reflected the growth of
business and public education. It also reflected limited opportunities elsewhere. Throughout the
nineteenth century, stereotyping of work by sex had restricted women's employment. Job options
were limited; any field that admitted women attracted a surplus of applicants willing to work for
less pay than men would have received. The entry of women into such fields—whether grammar
school teaching or office work—drove down wages.”
Paraphrased version (using an APA in-text citation):
According to Nancy Woloch (2002) in Women and the American Experience: A Concise
History, the “feminization” of jobs in the nineteenth century had two major effects: a lack of
employment opportunities for women and inadequate compensation for positions that were
available. Thus, while clerical and teaching jobs indicated a boom in these sectors, women were
forced to apply for jobs that would pay them less than male workers were paid (p. 170).

Paraphrasing Exercises:
Directions: On a separate piece of paper, write a paraphrase of each of the following passages.
Try not to look back at the original passage.
1. "The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat,
and it exerts tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold
ocean water around Antarctica flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its
upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this
regulating system is now threatened by human activity." From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon
(May 1990):17.
2. The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the law was a bad joke
because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when
organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it.
Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix
Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper
was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps
more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past. From Kathleen Yancey,
English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25.

3. Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries.
Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can
reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and
cushions the head. From "Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports (May 1990):
348.

4. Matisse is the best painter ever at putting the viewer at the scene. He's the most realistic of all
modern artists, if you admit the feel of the breeze as necessary to a landscape and the smell of
oranges as essential to a still life. "The Casbah Gate" depicts the well-known gateway Bab el
Aassa, which pierces the southern wall of the city near the sultan's palace. With scrubby coats of
ivory, aqua, blue, and rose delicately fenced by the liveliest gray outline in art history, Matisse
gets the essence of a Tangier afternoon, including the subtle presence of the bowaab, the sentry
who sits and surveys those who pass through the gate. From Peter Plagens, "Bright Lights."
Newsweek (26 March 1990): 50.

5. While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so far,
it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's tallest
building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer William
LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as the Sears
Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could produce a 500-story
building. From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.