Chicago Papers

Introducing summaries and paraphrases (Chicago)

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As with quotations, you should introduce most summaries and paraphrases with a signal phrase that mentions the author and places the material in context. Readers will then understand where the summary or paraphrase begins.

Without the signal phrase (in color) in the following example, readers might think that only the quotation at the end is being cited, when in fact the whole paragraph is based on the source.

According to Jack Hurst, official Confederate policy was that black soldiers were to be treated as runaway slaves; in addition, the Confederate Congress decreed that white Union officers commanding black troops be killed. Confederate Lieutenant General Kirby Smith went one step further, declaring that he would kill all captured black troops. Smith’s policy never met with strong opposition from the Richmond government.¹⁰

When to use a paraphrase

When the ideas and information are important, but the author’s exact words are not necessary or expressive
When you want to restate the source’s ideas in your own words
When you need to simplify and explain a technical or complicated source
When you need to reorder a source’s ideas

When to use a summary

When a passage is lengthy and you want to condense a chapter to a short paragraph or a paragraph to a single sentence
When you want to state the source’s main ideas simply and briefly in your own words
When you want to compare or contrast arguments or ideas from various sources
When you want to provide readers with an understanding of the source’s argument before you respond to it or launch your own

Introducing summaries and paraphrases (Chicago)

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