Paraphrasing

See C3 in the Quick Editing Guide or handbook sections 25 and 27e–f for more on quotations and ellipsis marks.

When paraphrasing, express an author’s ideas, fairly and accurately, in your own words and sentences. Avoid judging, interpreting, or merely echoing the original. A good paraphrase may retain the organization, emphasis, and details of the original, so it may not be much shorter. Even so, paraphrasing is useful to walk your readers through the points made in the original.

ORIGINAL “In staging an ancient Greek tragedy today, most directors do not mask the actors.”
TOO CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL Most directors, in staging an ancient Greek play today, do not mask the actors.
A GOOD PARAPHRASE Few contemporary directors of Greek tragedy insist that their actors wear masks.

WRITING A GOOD PARAPHRASE

  1. Read the entire passage through several times.
  2. Divide the passage into its most important ideas or points, either in your mind or by highlighting or annotating the passage.
  3. Look away from the original, and restate the first idea in your own words. Sum up the support for this idea. Review the section if necessary.
  4. Go on to the next idea, and do the same. Continue in this way.
  5. Go back and reread the original passage one more time, making sure you’ve conveyed its ideas faithfully without repeating its words or sentence structure. Revise your paraphrase if necessary.