Paraphrase and Summarize Texts

PARAPHRASING means . . .

• writing down exactly what a passage says

• putting information

  into your own words

What are the characteristics of A GOOD PARAPHRASE

• A good paraphrase must be correct. It has the same meaning as the original phrase, sentence, or paragraph.

• A paraphrase must be in your own words. Use words that you understand, that you yourself use. This is easier to do when you fully understand the material you are paraphrasing.

• A good paraphrase must make sense because other people must be able to understand what you’ve said.

• All of the Above

"In short, adoption is a ubiquitous social institution in American society, creating invisible relationships with biological and adoptive kin that touch far more people

than we imagine.”

Which one is the best paraphrase of this sentence?

• In America, people are adopted all the time.

• Adoption touches a surprising number of people throughout American society.

• Because adoptees are “invisible,” their circumstances are hard to imagine.

• Relationships between biological and adoptive kin have international scope.

Original Source Material:

In fact, between 1980 and 2000 the U.S. government has devoted some $19 billion in tax breaks to the ethanol from-corn effort, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and ethanol subsidies have often been larger than the total cost of a liter of gas the biofuel replaced. A significant portion of the profits made by agribusiness giants like Poet or Archer Daniels Midland—which, along with oil company Valero, are responsible for the bulk of ethanol produced in the U.S.—can be attributed to the government's tax breaks to these companies that is funded with taxpayer dollars.

How this source material appears in a student's essay:

The federal government has spent billions of dollars in subsidies to corn-ethanol, of which a handful of agribusiness companies have benefitted by making large profits based on tax cuts funded by tax-payers (Biello 2011).

• The student's version is a correct example of paraphrasing.

• The student's version is an example of plagiarism.

Read the passage below and answer the question that follows.

Jet lag is a problem suffered by many flight attendants, pilots, and frequent flyers. When people travel rapidly across numerous time zones, as they do when flying long distances, they sometimes develop a condition called jet lag. These long trips disturb normal body rhythms. After a trip, travelers may have trouble falling asleep at night and staying awake during the day. Experts advise travelers flying eastbound to go to bed later than usual before traveling and those flying west to go to bed earlier than usual. These changes should help minimize the effects of jet lag.

Which statement best summarizes all the main points in this paragraph?

• Flight attendants, pilots, and frequent flyers often suffer from jet lag.

• Jet lag is a problem for people who fly a lot. To prevent jet lag, people can change the time they go to sleep before they take a trip.

• People who suffer from insomnia often get jet lag because people's body rhythms get thrown off by travel.

• Long-distance travel is unsafe because of a condition known as jet lag from traveling across many time zones.

Small newspaper seeks writers. Writers must work well under pressure and focus on details. Good writing skills are necessary. Related experience preferred. Must be flexible with hours. May need to work overtime, nights, and weekends. Call 555-1234 for information.

What is the best summary of this advertisement?

• Most newspapers want flexible workers. They want people who are able to work nights, weekends, and overtime.

• A small newspaper is looking to hire writers. They would like someone who is detail-oriented, can work under pressure, and have flexible hours.

• Writers at newspapers work long hours. They often have to work at night or on weekends. They also have to deal with stress.

• You need experience to get a good job. For example, in order to get a writing job, it is helpful to have some writing experience.

When you imagine a desert, what do you see? If you are like most people, you probably picture sand, sand, and more sand. But did you know that only one-fifth of the world's largest non-polar desert, the Sahara, is covered by sand? The rest of the 3.5 million square miles of the desert, in Africa, is made up of rock and rubble. Most people think the Sahara is covered by sand because of the many pictures of the sand dunes of the desert. The sand dunes are very expansive—they measure over one hundred miles wide and two hundred feet tall. These great sand dunes, called whalebacks, are what photographers and filmmakers focus on when they film the Sahara. So, naturally, the image of the Sahara as a sand-covered wasteland is what most people picture.

Which of the following best summarizes this paragraph?

• Many people think the Sahara Desert is covered by sand, but it is not. The Sahara is made mostly of rock and rubble, though it has hundreds of miles of sand dunes.

• The Sahara Desert is an interesting place to photograph. Photographers and filmmakers especially like to focus on the hundreds of miles of sand dunes.

• The sand dunes of the Sahara are called whalebacks. They are called this because they look like the backs of whales barely peeking out from the ocean.

• The Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert in the world. It is over 3.5 million square miles large, and people usually picture it as a sand-covered wasteland.

You can paraphrase:

• a single word or a phrase

• a sentence

• a paragraph

• an entire page

• all of the above

A main idea is

• The big idea that the paragraph is about

• a piece of information supporting the topic sentence

Repeating the information word for word, or changing a word here and there, leaving most of the text and the sentence order the same is called

• quoting

• plagiarizing

• summarizing