OWL Quoting
Paraphrasing Summarizing
What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?
These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing
differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing. Quotations must be identical to the original, using a
narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for
word and must be attributed to the original author. Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source
material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the
original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original
passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it
slightly. Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your
own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to
attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are
significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the
source material. Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?
Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use
them to . . .
Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As
part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include
paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or
suggestive phrases as in the following example: In his famous and influential work On the Interpretation of Dreams,
Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the
unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's
unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream work"
(page #). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally
and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement
before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #s). How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries
Practice summarizing the essay found here,
using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow
these steps:
There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a
short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations
can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure
that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to
do so. You'll find guidelines for citing sources and punctuating citations at
our documentation guide pages. OWL—Paraphrase
Definition and How-to Paraphrase:
Write It in Your Own Words Paraphrasing is one way to use a
text in your own writing without directly quoting source material. Anytime
you are taking information from a source that is not your own, you need to
specify where you got that information. A
paraphrase is...
Paraphrasing
is a valuable skill because...
6
Steps to Effective Paraphrasing
Some
examples to compare The
original passage: Students frequently overuse direct
quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the
final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript
should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to
limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking
notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976):
46-47. A
legitimate paraphrase: In research papers students often
quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level.
Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to
minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47). An
acceptable summary: Students should take just a few
notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted
material in a research paper (Lester 46-47). A
plagiarized version: Students often use too many direct
quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final
research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should
consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount
of source material copied while taking notes. 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. 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. 1. According to Jacques Cousteau, the activity of people in Antarctica is
jeopardizing a delicate natural mechanism that controls the earth's climate.
He fears that human activity could interfere with the balance between the
sun, the source of the earth's heat, and the important source of cold from
Antarctic waters that flow north and cool the oceans and atmosphere
("Captain Cousteau" 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. 2. During the twenties lawlessness and social nonconformity prevailed. In
cities organized crime flourished without police interference, and in spite
of nationwide prohibition of liquor sales, anyone who wished to buy a drink
knew where to get one. Musicians like Louis Armstrong become favorites,
particularly among young people, as many turned away from highly respectable
classical music to jazz. One of the best examples of the anti-traditional
trend was the proliferation of young "flappers," women who rebelled
against custom by cutting off their hair and shortening their skirts (Yancey
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. 3. The use of a helmet is the key to reducing bicycling fatalities, which
are due to head injuries 75% of the time. By cushioning the head upon impact,
a helmet can reduce accidental injury by as much as 85%, saving the lives of
hundreds of victims annually, half of whom are school children ("Bike
Helmets" 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. 4. Matisse paintings are remarkable in giving the viewer the distinct
sensory impressions of one experiencing the scene first hand. For instance,
"The Casbah Gate" takes one to the walled
city of Tangier and the Bab el Aassa gateway near
the Sultan's palace, where one can imagine standing on an afternoon, absorbing
the splash of colors and the fine outlines. Even the sentry, the bowaab vaguely eyeing those who come and go through the
gate, blends into the scene as though real (Plagens
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. 5. How much higher skyscrapers of the future will rise than the present
world marvel, the Sears Tower, is unknown. However, the design of one twice
as tall is already on the boards, and an architect, Robert Sobel, thinks we currently have sufficient know-how to
build a skyscraper with over 500 stories (Bachman 15). IV. THREE KINDS OF NOTE TAKING There are three kinds of note taking: summarizing,
paraphrasing, and quoting. When you summarize, paraphrase, or quote, be sure
to include exact page references, since you will need the page number later
if you use the information in your paper. Summarizing
is the most useful kind of preparatory note taking because it is the
quickest. A summary condenses a chapter down to a brief paragraph or perhaps
only one or two sentences. A summary is best written in your own words.
However, if you do use phrases from the primary source, place quotation marks
around them. Here
is a passage from an original source researched for an essay on apes and
language. Following the passage is a note card summarizing it. ORIGINAL
SOURCE Public
and scientific interest in the question of apes' ability to use language
first soared some 15 years ago when Washoe, a chimpanzee raised
like a human child by R. Allen Gardner of the University of Nevada, learned
to make hand signs for many words and even seemed to be making short
sentences. Since
then researchers have taught many chimpanzees and a few gorillas and
orangutans to "talk" using the sign language of deaf humans,
plastic chips or, like Kanzi, keyboard symbols.
Like Washoe, Sarah, a chimpanzee trained by David Premack
of the University of Pennsylvania, and KoKo, a
gorilla trained by the psychologist Francine Patterson, became media stars. —Eckholm, "Pygmy"
P.B7
Where
a summary uses fewer words in order to condense information, a paraphrase
presents information in about the same number of words as the original text.
However, if you choose to keep certain passages in their original language,
place them in quotation marks in order to distinguish your paraphrasing from
the author's exact words. The
following note card paraphrases the original source. Note how the word choice
is different from the original. If one were to refer to this card later, a
student would not risk plagiarism.
Quotations
are exact words drawn from a source. Be certain to place all direct
quotations inside of quotation marks. It is VERY difficult to recall later on
which passages, paragraphs, or words you have quoted. Also, make sure that
when you quote you have written down everything precisely, including
punctuation and capitalization. It
is good practice not to use direct quotation too often. They are best
reserved for those instances when a writer's exact words are necessary to
explain most effectively a difficult idea, to capture a sense of the writer's
personality or style, or to express clearly how the writer objects to or
supports an opinion.
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