WHAT IS PARAPHRASING?

Paraphrasing means to re-state the ideas in a source by using your own words while at the same time, maintaining all of the information found in the original source. Normally, it is used for presenting the relevant ideas from the source of reference. It is also used as an alternative to avoid the use of direct quotations when one writes a literature or a critical review.

WHAT IS SUMMARISING?

A summary is a brief overview of an entire discussion or argument. Ideas found in a research paper or in a conversation can be condensed into a few sentences, a series of bullet points, or a single paragraph, using your own words and expression.

NOTE: A summary and/or a paraphrase, though may be written using your own words, are still using the original author's ideas and argument. Hence, they need to be properly referenced.

Skills in Paraphrasing

Although the writing of summary involves the use of paraphrasing techniques, paraphrasing does not aim to make a long text shorter. Paraphrasing merely restates the text.

For example,

Remnants of a lost ancient city have been discovered off the coast of France.

could be paraphrased as:

Evidence pointing to existence of an early civilisation has been found in the sea near France.

A good paraphrase is significantly different from the wording of the original, without changing the meaning of the original sentence.

Read the text below and then decide which is the best paraphrase, (a) or (b), why do you think so?

Ancient Egypt collapsed in about 2180 BC. Research conducted of the mud taken from the River Nile revealed that at this time the mountainous regions which played the role as the source of the Nile experienced a prolonged drought. This could have been catastrophic to the food security of the Egyptian society.

a) The sudden ending of Egyptian civilisation over 4,000 years ago was probably caused by changes in the weather in the region to the south. Without the regular river flooding there would not have been enough food.

b) Studies into deposits of the Egyptian Nile showed that a long dry period in the mountains at the beginning of the river may have led to a lack of water for irrigation around 2180BC, which was when the collapse of Egyptian civilisation began.

Some of the useful techniques that one can use in paraphrasing:

a) Change the vocabulary:

studies > research

society > civilisation

mud > deposits

beginning> source

showed > revealed

b) Change the word class:

Egypt (n.) > Egyptian (adj.)

mountainous regions (adj. + n.) > in the mountains (n.)

c) Changing word order:

Ancient Egypt collapsed > the collapse of Egyptian society began

Find synonyms for the words in italic.

Example:

· Sleep scientists have found that traditional remedies for insomnia, such as counting sheep, are ineffective.

Paraphrase (using synonyms):

· Sleep researchers have found that established cures for insomnia, for instance counting sheep, do not work.

a) Instead, they have found that imagining a pleasant scene is likely to send you to sleep quickly.

b) The research team divided fifty insomnia sufferers into three groups.

c) One group was told to imagine a waterfall, while another group tried sheep counting.

Change the word class of the words in italic, and then re-write the sentences.

Example:

A third group was given no special instructions about going to sleep.

Paraphrase (using change of word class):

A third group was not specially instructed about going to sleep.

a) It was found that the group thinking of waterfalls fell asleep twenty minutes quicker.

b) Mechanical tasks like counting sheep are apparently too boring to make people sleepy.

Change the word order of the following sentences.

Example:

There are many practical applications to research into insomnia.

Paraphrase (using change of word order):

Research into insomnia has many practical applications.

a) About one in ten people are thought to suffer from severe insomnia.

Severe insomnia is believed to affect __________________________.

b) It is calculated that the cost of insomnia for the American economy may be up to 411 billion US dollars a year.

American Economy could have lost up to 411 billion US dollars a year _________________________.