ELI 162
Paraphrasing
Steps and Examples


by Deborah Healey

Step 1: Understand what you are reading. If you don't understand it, you can't paraphrase it correctly. That's guaranteed.

Step 2: Think about the ideas, especially how the ideas may relate to your specific topic.

Step 3: Not looking at the original, write down the ideas.

Step 4: Look back at the original to see if you have changed the grammar and vocabulary. If not, change them now.


Sample:

Original:
Named for James Brady, the White House press secretary who was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. during the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in March 1981, the Brady Bill establishes a national waiting period and background check for the purchase of a handgun. (Bender, 1995: 137)

Phrases to avoid from the original are in bold:
Named for James Brady, the White House press secretary who was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. during the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in March 1981, the Brady Bill establishes a national waiting period and background check for the purchase of a handgun. (Bender, 1995: 137)

Ideas:
Brady bill = named for White House press secretary James Brady
Brady was shot during an assassination attempt on President Reagan
Brady bill provisions = people who want to buy handguns have a waiting period and check on their backgrounds

Changing the order of ideas, grammar, and vocabulary:
Bender (1995) explains that people who want to buy handguns in the US now have a waiting period and a background check as a result of the Brady Bill. The bill was named after White House press secretary James Brady, who was wounded during an assassination attempt on President Reagan. (137).

Notice how the grammar and vocabulary have been changed wherever possible in the paraphrase.



Exercise

  1. Look at the following quotation. On a piece of paper, write down the phrases that you need to avoid.

    Downlut believes the Brady bill trespasses on the rights of law-abiding citizens, and is therefore inconsistent with the Constitution, because it imposes a waiting period on exercising the right to own guns. (Bender, 1995: 137)

  2. Now on your piece of paper list the ideas that you will include.
  3. Next, cover up the original and write a paraphrase.
  4. Check for the underlined words, ideas, and a change in vocabulary and grammar.
  5. Check your work with the model. How did you do?

Feedback

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(Thanks to Jon Dorbolo for the inspiration behind this form!)

162 Overview
162 Syllabus





https://deborahhealey.com/162paraphrase.html
Last updated 9 September 1999 by D.Healey, Deborah.Healey@orst.edu.