How to Paraphrase a Source

Paraphrase is one form of note-taking. Paraphrasing information requires that the researcher rewrites the passage in his or her own words but still preserves the complete meaning of the passage. Direct quotation and summary are the other two ways in which to use information from a source. Here is a brief definition for each one:

Summary

Information from a source that has been shortened and condensed into a shorter body of writing than the original. It is typically written in your own words.

Paraphrase

Information from a source that has been written in your own words, usually in more simplistic vocabulary and sentences. The body of writing is equal in length to the original body of information. The paraphrased version of information is easier to understand.

Quotation

Information written down EXACTLY as it is in its original source. Quotations must correspond exactly with the original in wording, spelling, and punctuation. Quotation marks must surround the entire quotation and any words left out must be replaced with an ellipsis (…). In addition, the source of the quote (person or publication) must be

Included.

If you understand how, when and where to incorporate each form, you won’t commit plagiarism. To“plagiarize”, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, means, “to use and pass off (the ideas and writings of another) as one’s own” (1340). Each of the three forms must be cited if used within the text of a research paper, or the information is plagiarized.

General Advice on how to paraphrase:

Read the passage you wish to paraphrase completely through once, focusing on its meaning.
Choose carefully what you would like to paraphrase in the passage. You don’t need to paraphrase a whole selection. You may include a direct word-for-word quote within your paraphrase. Use quotation marks around the quoted material.
Write down the passage in your own words, taking care to preserve the complete meaning of the passage. If you can’t do this, you probably don’t understand the meaning of the passage. Read the passage again, using a dictionary, or ask someone to help you with its meaning. Using phrases, like “According to …..” is a great way to begin a paraphrase.
Include the page number in parentheses at the end of any quote, paraphrase, or summary if you get the information from a book.

Cinco de Mayo

May 5

“The Fifth of May is the day on which the Mexicans and Mexican-Americans commemorate the defeat of the French by General Ignacio Zaragoza at the Battle of Pueblo in 1862. His defense of this city was an important blow to Napoleon III’s attempt to establish a permanent French colony in Central America and led toward their eventual expulsion from Mexico by Benito Juarez five years later. It is a national holiday second in importance only to September 16, Independence Day. Even as early as 1863, the day was celebrated by Mexicans living in American cities such as San Francisco, and it has been considered ‘la gloriosa fecha’ (the glorious date) in the Bay Area ever since” (Cohen and Cofflin 214).

Cohen, Hennig and Tristam Potter Coffin., eds. The Folklore of American Holidays. Detroit: Gale. 1999.

Paraphrase

General Ignacio Zaragoza’s Mexican troops won the Battle of the Pueblo over the French on May 5, 1862. Because of this victory, the French weren’t able to create a colony in Central America. Five years after this battle, Benito Juarez forced the French to leave Mexico. May 5, or Cinco de Mayo, is still celebrated by Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, especially those around San Francisco. They call it “the glorious date.” The only other holiday that is more important to these groups is Mexican Independence Day, celebrated on September 16 (Cohen and Cofflin 214).

Summary

Mexican forces defeated the French at the Battle of Pueblo on May 5, 1862. This is why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated (Cohen and Cofflin 214).

Paraphrasing Activity

Read each of the three passages. After reading each one, identify which of the three choices that follow is a direct quote, a paraphrase, or a summary:

“On April 28, 1789, unrest exploded at a Paris wallpaper factory. A rumor had spread that the factory owner was planning to cut wages even though bread prices were soaring. Enraged workers vandalized the owner’s home. Later, they stopped some nobles returning from the afternoon at the racetrack.”

Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor and Anthony Esler. World History: Connections to Today.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.2003. 166.

1. According to Gaynor and Esler, in April 1789, factory workers were very angry because the cost of food was going up. They also heard that their pay was being cut, so they decided to damage a factory owner’s home as retribution. Nobles coming back to Paris from the races were stopped by the workers. ______________________________

2. Unrest exploded at a Paris wallpaper factory. ________________________________

3. Despite an increase in the cost of food, word on the street was that pay was going down. _________________

“By 1935, Hitler used his ideas about Germans belonging to a “master race” in order to justify persecuting German Jews and other minority groups. One of the first actions Hitler took was to declare that the Jews were no longer German citizens.”

“The Road to War.” American History: Civil War to the Present. Parsippany, New

Jersey: Globe Fearon. 2003. 612.

One of the first actions Hitler took was to declare that the Jews were no longer German citizens. ________________

As presented in American History: Civil War to the Present, Hitler’s idea of a German “master race” led to justification for German Jew’s loss of citizenship and later persecution after he presented his ideas in 1935. ___________________

Hitler was responsible for loss of citizenship and persecution of the Jews. _________________

“In August 1914, European nations plunged into the Great War. World War I ended four years later. It had destroyed millions of lives. It had also ended many old ways of life. Many soldiers had gone to war with grand ideas of honor and glory. The reality was different.”

King, Wayne and Marcel Lewinski. ”The Next War.” World History. Circle Pines

Minnesota: American Guidance Services, Inc. 2001. 605.

1. The authors, Wayne King and Marcel Lewinski, contend that The Great War, which began in 1914 and ended in 1918, produced the deaths of millions of people, and changed how people lived and thought. Soldiers’ views about fighting in war changed as well. It was no longer considered a noble activity. _________________________________

2. Many soldiers had gone to war with grand ideas of honor and glory. _________________________________

3. Millions of people died during World War I, while those who lived viewed war much differently. _________________________

Read through the passage below that describes what was happening in the United States after the bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II. Franklin Roosevelt was President of the United States at the time.

Choose one paragraph from the selection below to paraphrase with your partner. You will write the paraphrase in your own words, trying your best to keep true to the meaning of the original paragraph.

Write the paraphrase on the clear overhead sheet with the pen provided by your teacher.

Most of the Japanese Americans in the United States lived in California, Oregon, and Washington. When the Pacific Fleet crippled, people on the west coast felt particularly vulnerable to a Japanese attack. In this atmosphere, the anti-Asian prejudice that had plagued the west for more than one hundred years reached crisis proportions. The ugly mood was summed up by Lieutenant General John DeWitt, who as in charge of the west coast’s defense: “A Jap’s a Jap! It makes no difference whether he’s an American or not.”

Japanese store owners put huge signs on their establishments that read I am An American. Despite their efforts, banks still refused to cash their checks, insurance companies cancelled their policies, and milkmen and grocers refused to deliver or sell them anything.

Pressure to retaliate against Japanese Americans mounted. This led Roosevelt to sign Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, authorizing the secretary of war to designate certain areas of the country as “military areas” and to exile all persons from them. Although cloaked in broad language, this order was aimed directly at Japanese Americans. In the spring and summer of 1942, over 112,000 Japanese Americans were moved to temporary camps.

DeWitt’s soldiers immediately began rounding up Japanese Americans. Most were given as little as forty-eight hours’ notice to dispose of their businesses, farms, and homes. They quickly fell prey to bargain hunters who acquired their belongings for a fraction of their true value.

The displaced Americans dragged off bedrolls, baggage, and their frightened children to hastily converted assembly centers. These temporary camps were often racetracks or fairgrounds where man people were forced to bed down in horse stalls still reeking of manure. Most of the Japanese Americans went without a fight, hoping to prove their loyalty to a country that had turned on them.

Kallen, Stuart A. The War at Home. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2000. 72-73.

Paraphrase Lesson Works Cited

Cohen, Hennig and Tristam Potter Coffin., eds. The Folklore of American

Holidays. Detroit: Gale. 1999.

Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor and Anthony Esler. World History: Connections to

Today. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.2003.

Kallen, Stuart A. The War at Home. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2000.

King, Wayne and Marcel Lewinski. ”The Next War.” World History. Circle

Pines Minnesota: American Guidance Services, Inc. 2001.

“Paraphrase.” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

4^th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000.

“Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources.” University of Wisconsin-Madison

Writing Center Writer’s Handbook. 2004. 27 October 2005.

http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/QuotingSources.html.

“The Road to War.” American History: Civil War to the Present. Parsippany,

New Jersey: Globe Fearon. 2003.