owl purdue paraphrasing practice

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How Stuff Works Writing Prompts

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Description: Ask students to employ newly-learned concepts in explaining “how stuff works.” The engineering concept(s) can either be stated or left to the student to infer based on the object or process they are tasked to explain.

When useful: These writing prompts link concepts to the real world and give students practice in applying concepts to new situations.

Audience considerations: Instructors or TAs may advise students to write to a lay audience who is not familiar with engineering concepts or technical processes. They may also ask students to format their answers into steps or bullets or to include a diagram or infographic with their explanations.

Assignment length: Can range from several paragraphs to several pages

Connection to “writing to learn”: Students reinforce their knowledge of complex technical concepts and processes by explaining how they work to audiences who do not have technical knowledge. They must also consider how the concepts they learn in class apply to real processes and objects.

• Fluid mechanics: Explain how a siphon works (concept unstated)
• Fluid mechanics: Explain how a siphon works, using the Bernoulli principle (concept stated)
• Statics: Explain how the gears of a bicycle work. What is changing when you change gears?
• Thermodynamics: Explain how industrial chillers use the First Law of Thermodynamics to cool machines.
• Circuits: How does a flashlight work? Make sure you describe all components and how they function using appropriate scientific concepts. You may also want to provide a circuit diagram.

• Transcripts
• Cost & Tuition

Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words

Learn to borrow from a source without plagiarizing .

A Paraphrase is...

• your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
• one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
• a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because...

• it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.
• it helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
• the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

Six Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

• Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
• Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
• Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
• Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
• Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
• Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Some examples to compare:

The original passage:.

Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes.

A legitimate paraphrase:

In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim.

An acceptable summary:

Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper.

A plagiarized version:

Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

Paraphrasing Exercise

Directions: On a separate piece of paper, write a paraphrase of each of the following passages. Try not to look back at the original passage.

• "The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat, and it exerts tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold ocean water around Antarctica flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this regulating system is now threatened by human activity."
• The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the law was a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past.
• Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries. Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and cushions the head.
• Matisse is the best painter ever at putting the viewer at the scene. He's the most realistic of all modern artists, if you admit the feel of the breeze as necessary to a landscape and the smell of oranges as essential to a still life. "The Casbah Gate" depicts the well-known gateway Bab el Aassa, which pierces the southern wall of the city near the sultan's palace. With scrubby coats of ivory, aqua, blue, and rose delicately fenced by the liveliest gray outline in art history, Matisse gets the essence of a Tangier afternoon, including the subtle presence of the bowaab, the sentry who sits and surveys those who pass through the gate.
• While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so far, it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's tallest building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer William LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as the Sears Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could produce a 500-story building.

Paraphrasing Exercise: Possible Answers

Here are sample answers for the paraphrasing exercise:

• According to Jacques Cousteau, the activity of people in Antarctica is jeopardizing a delicate natural mechanism that controls the earth's climate. He fears that human activity could interfere with the balance between the sun, the source of the earth's heat, and the important source of cold from Antarctic waters that flow north and cool the oceans and atmosphere.
• During the twenties lawlessness and social nonconformity prevailed. In cities organized crime flourished without police interference, and in spite of nationwide prohibition of liquor sales, anyone who wished to buy a drink knew where to get one. Musicians like Louis Armstrong become favorites, particularly among young people, as many turned away from highly respectable classical music to jazz. One of the best examples of the anti-traditional trend was the proliferation of young "flappers," women who rebelled against custom by cutting off their hair and shortening their skirts.
• The use of a helmet is the key to reducing bicycling fatalities, which are due to head injuries 75% of the time. By cushioning the head upon impact, a helmet can reduce accidental injury by as much as 85%, saving the lives of hundreds of victims annually, half of whom are school children.
• Matisse paintings are remarkable in giving the viewer the distinct sensory impressions of one experiencing the scene first hand. For instance, "The Casbah Gate" takes one to the walled city of Tangier and the Bab el Aassa gateway near the Sultan's palace, where one can imagine standing on an afternoon, absorbing the splash of colors and the fine outlines. Even the sentry, the bowaab vaguely eyeing those who come and go through the gate, blends into the scene as though real..
• How much higher skyscrapers of the future will rise than the present world marvel, the Sears Tower, is unknown. However, the design of one twice as tall is already on the boards, and an architect, Robert Sobel, thinks we currently have sufficient know-how to build a skyscraper with over 500 stories.

Reconstruction: Paraphrasing

• Primary Sources
• Common Knowledge
• Paraphrasing
• Annotated Bibliographies

The Purdue OWL site has some helpful exercises to practice paraphrasing.

• Purdue OWL Paraphrasing guide
• Purdue OWL exercises
• More Paraphrasing Exercises More exercises from Florida International University.

What is a paraphrase?

Paraphrasing is not simply rearranging the words of someone else's sentence. Nor is it replacing their words with synonyms. It is taking the gist of their idea and putting it into your own words. IT MUST BE FOLLOWED BY A CITATION. When should you paraphrase:

• You don't want to use a dull or bland quote.
• You want to avoid too many direct quotations
• paraphrasing is a good mental exercise that shows that you truly understand the material

If you are looking at a large amount of material, a paragraph let's say, you do not want to paraphrase line by line. Instead, you want to focus on reading the whole section and take out one main point. Can you summarize that section into one main idea sentence?

If your paraphrase is too close to the original content then it is better off to use quotation marks and just use the direct quotation.

Original Text from "Irish Immigration." Immigration . Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014:

"Their [the Irish's] organizational ability coupled with the large number of Irish living in U.S. cities, made the Irish a powerful political force. They literally transformed politics in American cities by putting local power in the hands of men of working class origin."

Bad Paraphrase:

The Irish changed politics in American cities. Men of working class origin were given local power and because of their organizational ability along with their large numbers living in U.S. cities they became a powerful political force.

Acceptable Paraphrase with CITATION:

The Irish wielded great political power, particularly in the cities. By empowering the working classes this ethnic group became a powerful and influental voice in politics ("Irish Immigration").

How to paraphrase

• Read the original text. Read it several times in order to truly understand it's meaning
• Cover up the original text
• Without looking at the original text write a summary or overview of the original source material in your owd words
• Compare the two to determine if yours is too close to the original
• << Previous: Common Knowledge
• Next: Citation >>
• Last Updated: Nov 30, 2023 3:36 PM
• URL: https://micds.libguides.com/Reconstruction

• Robertson Library

Paraphrasing

If you want to share information from another source, but a direct quotation doesn't quite work, you need to paraphrase. Paraphrasing isn't just rearranging words or changing a few things within a sentence. It entails reading the source, understanding its full meaning, then rewriting the passage in your own words. It's a skill that takes practice, so luckily this page has resources for you to practise and learn more about paraphrasing. Remember to cite the paraphrase, too!

How to Paraphrase

Paraphrasing - OWL Purdue  - A simple overview of proper paraphrasing.

When do I Paraphrase? - Writing Commons  - A thorough explanation of when you should directly quote, and when you should paraphrase.

Paraphrasing Without Plagiarizing PDF - Douglas College  - A straightforward guide to paraphrasing with techniques and examples.

Paraphrasing Exercises

Paraphrasing Exercises - OWL Purdue  - Paragraphs for you to practise paraphrasing.

Test Your Understanding - Douglas College  - Examples of good or bad paraphrasing for you to evaluate.

Avoiding Plagiarism: Quoting, Paraphrasing & Summarizing

• What is Plagiarism?
• Methods of Avoiding Plagiarism
• Quoting, Paraphrasing & Summarizing
• Building a Bibliography
• Copyright Guide
• Types of Plagiarism with Examples

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

Purdue owl resources:.

• Information about quoting, paraphrasing & summarizing The web page includes definitions of all and exercises to improve your understanding of the differences.
• Paraphrase Exercises Exercises to practice paraphrasing.

Additional Info:

• Handout from Aquinas College Library This guide shows a nice chart of when to quote, paraphrase or summarize.

Paraphrasing Example

This is a short video on how to paraphrase a paragraph of an article you've found. This was produced by EasyBib.

Paraphrasing from EasyBib on Vimeo .

• << Previous: Methods of Avoiding Plagiarism
• Next: Building a Bibliography >>
• Last Updated: Jul 12, 2024 6:00 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.txstate.edu/avoiding-plagiarism

CAMS 4331: Communication Theory

• Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources This link opens in a new window
• Articles and Databases
• Evaluate Sources

When to Cite

Brief overview, detailed overview, help with quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.

• Citing Sources This link opens in a new window
• Zotero This link opens in a new window
• Handout on Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
• Plagiarism Quiz
• When to Cite - Heterick Memorial Library

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing refers to rewriting a given sentence using your own words. When we need to use a sentence in our writing that someone else wrote, we paraphrase it. That is, we use the same idea(s) in that sentence and write it differently. In addition to using different words, we use different grammar. The main purpose of paraphrasing has to do with being able to use someone else’s ideas while we write our own texts. Of course, it is required that any writer acknowledges the original source using the proper citation format.

Summarizing

A summary should be a short version of a longer original source. Its main goal is to present a large amount of information in a short and concise text that includes only the most important ideas of the original text.

Source: Purdue Online Writing Lab

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing 

What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

Quotations  must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing  involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing  involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to:

• Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
• Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
• Give examples of several points of view on a subject
• Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
• Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original
• Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own
• Expand the breadth or depth of your writing 

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

Practice summarizing the essay found  here , using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow these steps:

• Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
• Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.
• Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.
• Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so.

• APA Citation - Research Guide The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the ultimate resource for questions on APA format.
• MIT's Avoiding Plagiarism - Paraphrasing
• Purdue Owl's Exercise : Basic-level Paraphrase and Summary Writing
• Purdue Owl's Exercise : Intermediate-level Paraphrase Exercises
• Purdue Owl's Paraphrase and Summary Exercises
• Suny's Overview of Writing Summaries and Paraphrases
• UM's How do I effectively integrate textual evidence?
• USM's How to Avoid Plagiarism: Paraphrasing and Summarizing
• << Previous: Evaluate Sources
• Next: Citing Sources >>
• Last Updated: Jun 28, 2024 3:52 PM
• URL: https://library.onu.edu/commtheory