ParaphrasingandSummarizing

PARAPHRASE:THEAUTHOR'STHOUGHTSINYOURWORDS
Bywritingacarefulparaphrase,youwillclarifyforyourselfthefullmeaningofanotherwriter'sstatements.Intheprocessofwritinga
paraphrase,youmustpaycloseattentiontothemeaningoftheoriginalpassageinordertoreproducethatmeaninginyourown
words.Substitutingsynonymsforindividualwordsandrearrangingthesentencestructurewillhelpyoufindanewwaytoexpressthe
originalmeaning.Paraphrasingnotonlywillhelpyouincreaseyourownunderstandingofaparticularpassagebutwillallowyouto
communicatethemeaningofthatpassagetoothers.Inyourownwriting,youwillfrequentlyincludeaparaphrase,particularlywhen
youneedtorefertoanotherwriter'sworkinthecourseofmakingyourownoriginalstatements.Theparaphraseisaskillusefulfor
bothreadingaccurately,whenyouwanttotakeprecisenotesonwhatyouhaveread,andforwriting,whenyouwanttoreproduce
otherwriter'sideas.
Example1:OpeningsentenceoftheGettysburgAddressbyAbrahamLincoln
original:Fourscoreandsevenyearsago,ourfathersbroughtforthonthiscontinentanewnation,conceivedinlibertyanddedicatedto
thepropositionthatallmenarecreatedequal.
StepOne:UseofSynonyms
Eightysevenyearsbeforenow,ourancestorsfoundedinNorthAmericaanewcountry,thoughtofinfreedomandbasedonthe
principlethatallpeoplearebornwiththesamerights.
StepTwo:RestructuringtheSentence
OurancestorsthoughtoffreedomwhentheyfoundedanewcountryinNorthAmericaeightysevenyearsago.Theybasedtheir
thinkingontheprinciplethatallpeoplearebornwiththesamerights.
Example2:fromV.A.Firsoff,StrangeWorldoftheMoon(1959)
original:Themoonisasmallworldandthediameterof2,160milesgivesheravolumeequalto1/49oftheEarth's.Yetwhetherwe
explorehervicariouslythroughatelescopeoratsomefuturedatedirectly,itishersurfaceratherthanhervolumethatwillconcernus
firstandforemost.Thisequalsabout1/4ofourplanet'stotalsuperficialareaorapproximately10millionsquaremiles.Moreover,most
oftheterrestrialglobeisunderwater,only57,500,000squaremilesbeingdryland,whilethemoonhasnoseas.Thusshehasover
1/6ofthetotalcombinedareaofourcontinents,countingAntarctica,tooffertotheexplorerswhofirstmakeasuccessfullanding

amongherratherforbiddingmountainlandscape.
paraphrase:Themoon'ssizeislessthanthatofmostheavenlybodies.TheEarthisfortyninetimesthevolumeofthemoon,which
measures2,160across.Butwhenweobservethemooneitheratourcurrentdistancethroughatelescopeorinthefuturewhenwe
landonit,whatwenoticefirstandareprimarilyinterestedinistheexterior,nottheinterior.Thesurfaceoftheearthisonlyfourteen
timestheroughlytenmillionsquaremilesurfaceofthemoon.Becauselessthanhalf(only57,500,000squaremiles)oftheearth's
surfaceisnotcoveredbyseasandoceans,whichdonotexistonthemoon,thedrysurfaceoftheearth,evenincludingAntartica,is
lessthansixtimesthedrysurfaceofthemoon.
Trythenextexampleonyourown.
Example3:fromKeithSward,LegendofHenryFord(1976)
original:Inhisfirsteffortasknighterrant,Fordranupthestandardofamilitantpacifist.Hisdebutinworldpoliticsbeganinsummerof
1915whentheEuropeanwarwasenteringitssecondyear.Hisfirstskirmishesovernewterrainwerepurelyverbal.Theytooktheform
ofstatementstothepressthatwerestuddedwithpassionatedenunciationsofwar.Mostofthesebristlingmanifestoswere,inreality,
theworkofTheodoreDelavigne,aDetroitnewspaperreporter,whomFordengagedashispamphleteerand"peacesecretary."Issued
inthenameofhisdistinguishedpatron,Delaigne'sbroadsideswereallthemorenewsworthyinthatFordwasswimmingupstream.
WallStreethadalreadyforgedanalliancewithFranceandBritain.ProBritishsentimentwasdeepseatedinAmerica.Theadvocates
ofmilitarypreparednesswereinthesaddle.Againstsuchacombinationofsocialforces,Fordflunghimselfheadlong.
StepOne:UseofSynonyms

StepTwo:RestructuringtheSentence

SUMMARY:THEAUTHOR'SMAINIDEAS

Asummarywillhelpyouunderstandthemajordirection,themainpoints,andtheoverallshapeofthemoredetailedoriginaltext.A
summaryrestatestheessenceoftheoriginalinasfewwordsaspossible.Inwritingasummary,youfocusonthemostimportant
statementsoftheoriginalpassageandeliminatelessimportantmaterial.Producingasummaryinvolvesselectionanddeletion
followedbygatheringthemainpointsintocoherentsentences.Likeparaphrase,summarycanbeusedformanypurposes:to
understandthemainpointsandstructureofanauthor'sargument,toconveythatunderstandingtoothers,topresentbackground
informationquickly,andtorefertoanotherwriter'sideasinthecourseofyourownoriginalstatement.
Example1:fromRichardDeming,Sleep:OurUnknownLife(1972)
Original(withselectedpassagesunderlined):
Unlikehumansubjects,animalsubjectsinthesleeplaboratoryobviouslycannotbeawakenedandaskedwhattheyweredreaming.So
untilrelativelyrecentlyitwasimpossibletostatewithabsolutecertaintythatanyanimalactuallydreamed.Then,byahappyaccident,
experimentersobtainedprettysolidevidencethatatleastoneanimalhasdreams.
AteamofresearchersattheUniversityofPittsburghwasattemptingtofindoutifsleeplosswouldcausehallucinations(ormicrosleep
dreams,ifDr.RalphBerger'stheoryiscorrect)inmonkeys,asitdidinhumanbeings.Theinitialprocedurewastostrapeachmonkey
toachairinsidewhathadoriginallybeenatelephonebooth.Aprojectionscreenwasplaceddirectlyinfrontofthemonkey,and
coloredslideswereperiodicallyshownonit.Eachtimeaslidewasprojected,themonkeyreceivedanelectricshockunlessit
repeatedlypressedabarinfrontofit.
Allthemonkeysusedintheexperimentquicklylearnedtoavoidtheshockbypressingthebar.Theypresseditonanaverageoffifty
timesaminutewheneveranimageappearedonthescreen.
Afteramonkeyhadlearneditslessonsandhadbeenthoroughlydeprivedofsleep,theresearchersfitteditwithcontactlensesthat
dimmeditsvisionwithoutcompletelyblindingit.Theyleftthescreeninplace,butprojectednomoreslidesontoit.Thentheywaitedfor
themonkeytodevelophallucinationsandstartpressingthebar.
Unfortunatelyforthepurposesoftheexperiment,alltheanimalswenttosleep.Eachtimetheyputadifferentmonkeyintheconverted
telephonebooth,thesamethinghappened.Finally,astheexperimentersruefullywatchedoneofthemonkeysthroughtheviewing
window,itpassedintodeepsleep,thenbackupintoREMsleepandsuddenly,initssleep,beganfuriouslypressingthelever.
Obviouslythemonkeywasseeingimagesinitssleep,whichcouldonlymeanthatitwasdreaming.Therefore,whiletheexperiment
failedinitsinitialpurpose,itdidprovesomethingequallyimportantthatatleastoneanimal,themonkey,hasdreamsduringsleep.
Summary:
Definiteevidenceofdreamsinanyanimalisonlyrecent.Inanexperimentonhallucinationscausedbysleeploss,monkeyshadto
pressabartoavoidshockwhenslides,shownperiodically,appeared.Trainedinthismanner,themonkeysweredeprivedofsleep,
hadtheirvisiondimmed,andwereplacedbeforethescreen,butnoslideswereprojected.AlthoughfallingintoREMsleep,one

monkeyrepeatedlypressedthebar,apparentlyseeingimagesand,therefore,dreaming.
Trythenextexampleonyourown.

Example2:fromMortRosenblum,CoupsandEarthquakes:ReportingtheWorldforAmerica(1979)
Original(pleaseunderlinemainpointsyouselect):
Newsorganizationsresponddifferentlywhendirectmeasuresareimposed.WhenformerIndianprimeministerIndiraGandhiinsisted
thatWesternreporterssignalistofguidelinesforcoverage,therewerethreereactions.Somerefusedtosignandleftthecountryina
blazeofintegritysomesignedandrespectedtherestrictionsandotherssignedandpaidnoattentiontothem.Correspondentswho
stayedandignoredtheguidelinessaytheypullednopunches.Butsomeeditorswhofollowedeventscloselysaidtheydetecteda
slightlytemperedtone.
Theimpositionofselfcensorshipcanbemoredamagingthandirectmeasures.Manyauthoritieswillletcorrespondentsfilewhatever
theywant,buttheyreactharshlyiftheyareunhappywithwhatisreported.Thiswascalledthe"Filenow,dielater"policyinChileafter
the1973coup.Facedwithundefinedthreats,reportersmayinadvertentlywithholdsensitiveinformationbyconvincingthemselvesthat
theirperfectlyreliablesourcesarenotgoodenough.Andthemoretimiddeliberatelyomitmaterialthatmightwellhavegottenbyan
officialcensor.
Anumberofforeigneditorstelltheircorrespondentstoignorepressuresandreportfrankly.Shouldtheygetthrownout,theywillbe
reassignedsomewhereelse.Butothereditorspreferthattheircorrespondentsdonotriskgettingthrownoutexceptonthebiggestof
stories.Anexpulsionisnotnecessarilyabadgeofhonor.Oftenauthoritieswillnotallownewsorganizationstoreplaceejected
corespondents.Newsagenciescanbeparticularlysensitiveiftheyselltheirnewsandphotostolocalpapersinthecountry.APand
UPIpolicyistoreportthenews,whatevertheconsequences,butlocalbureauchiefsandcorrespondentsaresometimesreluctantto
jeopardizeagencyincomebyriskinghavingtheirofficescloseddown.Regardlessofanorganization'spolicy,correspondentsknow
thatiftheyprovokethewrathofhardlinerulers,theycouldsufferafateworsethanexpulsion.
Summary:

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