Advanced-Writing04

Chapter4ParaphrasingandSummarizingGeneralguidelinesforParaphrasingandSummarizing:Alwaystrytouseyourownwords,exceptfortechnicalterms.Donottrytoparaphrasespecializedvocabularyortechnicalterms.Includeenoughsupportanddetailsothatthepresentationisclear.Includenothingmorethanwhatiscontainedintheoriginal.(Donotincludeyourowncommentsorevaluation.)Makesurethesummary/paraphrasedversionreadssmoothly.Useenoughtransitiondevicesandsupportingdetail.Youdonnotwantacollectionofsentencesthatdonotflow.4.1Paraphrase--WriteitinYourOwnWordsAparaphraseis...yourownrenditionofessentialinformationandideasexpressedbysomeoneelse,presentedinanewform.onelegitimateway(whenaccompaniedbyaccuratedocumentation)toborrowfromasource.amoredetailedrestatementthanasummary,whichfocusesconciselyonasinglemainidea.Paraphrasingisavaluableskillbecause...itisbetterthanquotinginformationfromanundistinguishedpassage.ithelpsyoucontrolthetemptationtoquotetoomuch.thementalprocessrequiredforsuccessfulparaphrasinghelpsyoutograspthefullmeaningoftheoriginal.6StepstoEffectiveParaphrasing1.Rereadtheoriginalpassageuntilyouunderstanditsfullmeaning.2.Settheoriginalaside,andwriteyourparaphraseonanotecard.3.Jotdownafewwordsbelowyourparaphrasetoremindyoulaterhowyouenvisionusingthismaterial.Atthetopofthenotecard,writeakeywordorphrasetoindicatethesubjectofyourparaphrase.4.Checkyourrenditionwiththeoriginaltomakesurethatyourversionaccuratelyexpressesalltheessentialinformationinanewform.5.Usequotationmarkstoidentifyanyuniquetermorphraseologyyouhaveborrowedexactlyfromthesource.6.Recordthesource(includingthepage)onyournotecardsothatyoucancredititeasilyifyoudecidetoincorporatethematerialintoyourpaper.(Forbasicskills,seePage25)Someexamplestocompare1.Theoriginalpassage:Studentsfrequentlyoverusedirectquotationintakingnotes,andasaresulttheyoverusequotationsinthefinal[research]paper.Probablyonlyabout10%ofyourfinalmanuscriptshouldappearasdirectlyquotedmatter.Therefore,youshouldstrivetolimittheamountofexacttranscribingofsourcematerialswhiletakingnotes.Lester,JamesD.WritingResearchPapers.2nded.(1976):46-47.Aplagiarizedversion:Studentsoftenusetoomanydirectquotationswhentheytakenotes,resultingintoomanyoftheminthefinalresearchpaper.Infact,probablyonlyabout10%ofthefinalcopyshouldconsistofdirectlyquotedmaterial.Soitisimportanttolimittheamountofsourcematerialcopiedwhiletakingnotes.Alegitimateparaphrase:Inresearchpapersstudentsoftenquoteexcessively,failingtokeepquotedmaterialdowntoadesirablelevel.Sincetheproblemusuallyoriginatesduringnotetaking,itisessentialtominimizethematerialrecordedverbatim(Lester46-47).Anacceptablesummary:Studentsshouldtakejustafewnotesindirectquotationfromsourcestohelpminimizetheamountofquotedmaterialinaresearchpaper(Lester46-47).2.[OriginalText]Ofthemorethan1000bicyclingdeathseachyear,three-fourthsarecausedbyheadinjuries.Halfofthosekilledareschool-agechildren.Onestudyconcludedthatwearingabikehelmetcanreducetheriskofheadinjuryby85percent.Inanaccident,abikehelmetabsorbstheshockandcushionsthehead.(53words)[ParaphrasedText]Theuseofahelmetisthekeytoreducingbicyclingfatalities,whichareduetoheadinjuries75%ofthetime.Bycushioningtheheaduponimpact,ahelmetcanreduceaccidentalinjurybyasmuchas85%,savingthelivesofhundredsofvictimsannually,halfofwhomareschoolchildren.(48words)(Formoreexamplesandexercises,seePage26)4.2Summarizing4.2.1ThreePrincipalrequirementsforagoodsummary:1.Itshouldofferabalancedcoverageoftheoriginal.2.Itshouldpresentthesourcematerialinaneutralfashion.3.Itshouldcondensethesourcematerialandbepresentedinyourownwords.(Abetterbutmoredifficultstrategyforsummarywritingwouldbetocarefullyconsidertheelementsyouconsiderimportant,puttheoriginalaway,andwritedownwhatyouhaveunderstood.Thismayallowyoutocondensetheideasinthesourceevenfurther.)4.2.2StepsinWritingaSummaryAlltheguidelinesprovidedforparaphrasingalsoapplyforsummarizing.Herearesomepreliminarystepsinwritingasummary:1).Skimthetext,notinginyourmindthesubheadings.Iftherearenosubheadings,trytodividethetextintosections.Trytodeterminewhattypeoftextyouaredealingwith.Thiscanhelpyouidentifyimportantinformation.2).Readthetext,highlightingimportantinformationortakingnotes.3).Inyourownwords,writedownthemainpointsofeachsection.Trytowriteaone-sentencesummaryofeachsection.4).Writedownthekeysupportpointsforthemaintopic,butdonotincludeminordetail.5).Gothroughtheprocessagain,makingchangesasappropriate.(Formoreadvice,pleaseseePage27)Example:SeePage30,Practice15Taskone:Readthispassageandunderlinetheinformationyouthinkissignificantandshouldbeincludedinasummary.TaskTwo:Nowtakealookatsomeattemptsatsummarizingsomeofthedetailsinthethirdparagraph.Whichsummaryprovidestherightamountofdetail?4.2.3LanguageFociinSummaryWriting4.2.3.1ThefirstSentenceinaSummaryForinstructions,seePage27Forpractices,seePage30-31,Practice17ExtraPractice:Herearesomeintroductorystatementsthatstudentswroteforasummaryforthe“Nile”passageinPractice15.Which,ifany,wouldyouprefertohavewritten?Why?Edittheweakersentences.1.AuthorStevenGoodman