This video called "Comparing Paraphrasing and Quoting*" helps with understanding when it would be best to quote and when it would be best to paraphrase.
"Comparing Paraphrasing and Quoting*" by WU Writing Center is licensed under a Standard YouTube license.
Let's explore paraphrasing and summarizing in an article about DACA recipients or "Dreamers".
Look at the example quotation, paraphrase, and summary from the article “What the Supreme Court’s DACA Ruling Means for Undocumented Students and the Colleges and Universities They Attend, Today." What similarities do you notice between the quotation, paraphrase, and summary? What differences do you observe?
In The Conversation’s “What the Supreme Court’s DACA Ruling Means for Undocumented Students and the Colleges and Universities They Attend, Today,” Sayil Camacho states, “an estimated 1.1 million undocumented children live in the United States, according to data drawn from the Census Bureau. This number includes about 100,000 undocumented students who graduate from high school every year. The most recent estimates indicate that approximately 450,000 undocumented immigrants are enrolled in colleges and universities, including some 45,000 pursuing advanced degrees.”
In The Conversation’s “What the Supreme Court’s DACA Ruling Means for Undocumented Students and the Colleges and Universities They Attend, Today,” Sayil Camacho states that over a million children are in the United States without legal papers. The latest data that was collected by the Census Bureau also shows that almost half a million undergraduate students in higher education are undocumented. Furthermore, this number includes 45,000 students who are enrolled in graduate school.
In The Conversation’s “What the Supreme Court’s DACA Ruling Means for Undocumented Students and the Colleges and Universities They Attend, Today,” Sayil Camacho shares that a large number of children (about 1.1. million) are in the U.S. without legal papers of which 100,000 are in high school, 450,000 in college and 45,000 in graduate school.
Now, check the following list. Did you observe all the similarities and differences?
Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries all use reporting words to refer to the source.
Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries all report ideas from the original text.
Paraphrases and summaries both report ideas from the original text, but change the words and sentence structure.
Quotations use the same exact words from the original text, unlike paraphrases and summaries.
Quotations use quotation marks "..." to show which words are copied directly.
Summaries are shorter than the original passage, while quotations and paraphrases are closer to the same length as the original.
We can paraphrase a passage to show our comprehension and the meaning of a text. In essays, we might use a paraphrase to provide support for the point we are making. When we paraphrase, we capture what the text says.
With a paraphrase we:
Keep the length similar to the text we are paraphrasing
Use our own words - they should be different from the text (unless a key term is of essence)
Keep the meaning the same as the original text - we do not include our opinion
Use a different sentence structure - change up the grammar!
Need to reference the writer’s name and title of the text.
"1.8: Paraphrasing and Summarizing" is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Gabriel Winer & Elizabeth Wadell (ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)). Adapted by Laura Paciorek.