Paraphrasing

What is a paraphrase?

• a restatement of the information in a text

• a persuasive argument about the information in a text

• a genre of storytelling

• an essay about a specific topic

Which of these is not a reason why you might paraphrase a text?

• You want to show that you understand the text.

• You need to include the information in a research paper.

• You need a one-sentence explanation of what you read.

• You want to remember the information for later.

What should you do while reading a text that you’re going to paraphrase later?

• cross out any words you don’t know

• ignore the main idea

• scribble over sentences you’ve already read

• look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary

A paraphrase should include

• the main idea but not the supporting details.

• the main idea and the supporting details.

• the supporting details but not the main idea.

• neither the supporting details nor the main idea.

True or False: A paraphrase is about the same length as the original text.

• True

• False

Which of these should not be changed when writing a paraphrase?

• people’s names

• important dates in history

• names of countries

• all of the above

True or False: You can paraphrase a text just by swapping out a couple of words.

• True

• False

Which of these is plagiarism?

• giving credit to the author of a book

• presenting someone else’s ideas as your own

• telling your friend about a great book you just read

• writing a short summary of a text

Which of these is a way to give credit to your sources?

• looking up unfamiliar words in the dictionary

• timing yourself while writing your paraphrase

• including a bibliography or works cited

• underlining the passages that you paraphrased

A successful paraphrase

• copies the original text word for word.

• is similar to the original text but swaps out few words.

• uses different wording from the original text, and also includes new and different information.

• uses different wording from the original text, but includes the same information.