Summarize
– Restate concisely
the main facts or ideas of a longer work.
You may summarize entire books, whole articles or essays, or portions of
a work. When writing a summary, be
accurate, be brief, and use your own words and style to express the idea.
Paraphrase – Restate another person’s ideas in your own words. A paraphrase is usually a sentence or two, is used for portions of a work, and does not necessarily condense the original version the way a summary does.
Quote – Record another person’s exact words to preserve their accuracy or to relay especially vivid, well-phrased, or dramatic statements.
What
to Avoid
Plagiarism – Intentionally or unintentionally giving the impression that words or ideas from another person are your own. The best way to avoid plagiarism, a serious academic offense, is to make sure you have something to say about your topic first. Then follow the conventions of summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting to give credit to the other people whose information you’re sharing with readers.
Two
Steps
Whether you choose to summarize, paraphrase, or directly
quote another person’s ideas, the same two principles apply:
1.
Introduce
the material with a signal phrase that includes the author’s
name, and place the page number in parentheses at the end of the line.
Note: You may include the author’s last name along with the page number in parentheses if, for stylistic reasons, you choose to paraphrase or summarize material without direct mention of the author in a signal phrase.
2.
Make
sure the citation matches a corresponding entry on the Works Cited page
where you give the full publication information for each source.
Original: Children
of divorce have no choice. If the
parent with whom they live, usually the mother, has to or wants to work, the
children must pick up some of the slack.
It doesn’t usually hurt them and, in fact, many adults of divorce, in
retrospect, say that the arrangement worked amazingly well and propelled them
on the road to competence and independence as an adult.
Beal, Edward W., & Gloria Hochman. “Adult Children of Divorce.” Parenting Nov. 1999: 23-27.
Summary: According to Edward Beal and Gloria Hochman,
children living with a divorced parent may actually benefit from some of the
responsibilities they must take on (23).
Paraphrase: Many people who, as children of divorced parents, were raised in a single-parent home acknowledge that they gained skills that helped them to mature as adults (Beal & Hochman 23).
Quote: As Beal and Hochman report, “Children of divorce have no
choice. If the parent with whom they live, usually the mother, has to or wants to
work, the children must pick up some of the slack. It doesn’t usually hurt them and, in fact, many adults of divorce
. . . say that the arrangement worked amazingly well” (23).
Plagiarism: If
a child’s divorced parent with whom they live, usually the mother, has to or
wants to work, the child must pick up some of the slack. This doesn’t usually hurt them though.
Directions: Now
try working with the following original passage. First, write a one-sentence summary of the passage. Then paraphrase one of the key
ideas. Finally select an original
sentence and introduce it as a quotation.
Original: Until
just a few years ago, making a baby boy or a baby girl was pretty much a
hit-or-miss affair. Not anymore. Parents who have access to the latest
genetic testing techniques can now predetermine their baby’s sex with great
accuracy.
Lemonick, Michael
D. “Designer Babies.” Time 11 Jan. 1999: 64-65.