How and When to Paraphrase Quotations

How and When to Paraphrase Quotations Paraphrasing is one tool writers use to avoid plagiarism. Along with direct quotations and summaries, its a fair use of another persons work which can be incorporated into your  own writing. At times, you can make more impact by paraphrasing a quotation instead of quoting it verbatim. What Is Paraphrasing? Paraphrasing is a restatement of a quotation using your own words. When you paraphrase, you restate the original authors ideas in your own words. Its important to differentiate paraphrasing from patchwriting; patchwriting is a form of plagiarism in which a writer directly quotes portions of a text (without attribution) and then fills in the gaps with their own words. When Should YouParaphrase? Quoting a source directly can be powerful, but sometimes paraphrasing is a better choice. Usually, paraphrasing makes more sense if: the quotation is long and wordythe quotation itself is poorly writtenthe quotation itself is technical or uses difficult-to-understand or obsolete language An Effective Method of Paraphrasing a Quotation: Before you begin paraphrasing, its important to fully understand the quotation, its context, and any important cultural, political, or hidden meanings. Your job, as a paraphraser, is to accurately convey the authors meaning as well as any subtext. Carefully read the original quotation and make sure to understand its central idea.Note down anything that grabs your attention. If you feel that some element (word, phrase, thought) contributes to the central idea of the quotation, make a note of it.If there are any words, ideas, or meanings that are unclear, look them up. For example, if youre paraphrasing the work of a person from a different culture or time, you may want to look up references to people, places, events, etc. that are not familiar to you.Write a paraphrase in your own words. Meticulously avoid using the original words, phrases, and expression. At the same time, make sure that your words convey the same central idea.If you need to use an interesting word or phrase from the original text, use quotation marks to indicate that it is not your own.Cite the author, the source, and the date given in the text, to credit the owner of the quotation. Remember: Though the words of the paraphrase are your own, the thought behind it isnt. To not mention the authors name is plagiarism. How does a Paraphrase Differ From a Summary? To the untrained eye, a paraphrase and a summary may look alike. A paraphrase, however: May restate  just a single  sentence, idea, or paragraph rather than  an entire  text;May be shorter than or just as long as the original  text;May be used in the context of a wide range of written  materials such as an essay, letter to the editor, article, or book;describes the original text in different words without omitting details. A summary, by contrast: is an abridged version of the entire original text.must be shorter than the original text.always eliminates details, examples, and supporting points.

Yet 3 More Types of Hyphenation Errors with Numbers

Yet 3 More Types of Hyphenation Errors with Numbers Yet 3 More Types of Hyphenation Errors with Numbers Yet 3 More Types of Hyphenation Errors with Numbers By Mark Nichol Confusion about the relationship between hyphens and numbers, whether they appear in numeral or spelled-out form, is rampant. Each of the following examples erroneously employs hyphens; discussion after each sentence explains the error, and a revision corrects it. 1. Because of concussions, he had played just sixty-nine games in two seasons between 2010-2012. Using a hyphen rather than an en dash in a number range is generally an error of ignorance (though some publications, with full awareness of the distinction between the two symbols, confusingly insist on doing so anyway). However, linking 2010 and 2012 in a number range with any connective symbol is redundant to preceding the numbers with between, which should be counterbalanced with an intervening and: â€Å"Because of concussions, he had played just sixty-nine games in two seasons between 2010 and 2012.† An alternative revision, correctly employing the en dash, is â€Å"Because of concussions, he had played just sixty-nine games in the 2010–11 and 2011–2012 seasons.† 2. This goal may be achievable in a 12-to-24 month time frame. Just as it is not necessary to repeat the word for the unit of time in â€Å"12 months to 24 months†- the first iteration of month is implicit- the word may be elided from a version of the phrase that uses hyphens. But do not link the two numbers with one or more of these symbols (or with one or more dashes); to serves the connective function, and the hyphens represent that the numbers, when combined with month, modify â€Å"time frame.† Form the construction (which employs a syntactical technique known as suspensive hyphenation) as shown here: â€Å"This goal may be achievable in a 12- to 24-month time frame.† Also, many publications spell out numbers up to one hundred, so it might be correct (or preferable to you, if no specific style is required for your content) to instead write, â€Å"This goal may be achievable in a twelve- to twenty-four-month time frame.† 3. A similar incident occurred four-and-a-half years later. The words representing a number consisting of a mixed fraction should be hyphenated only if the phrase modifies a noun that follows it. Here, the words in the phrase should stand on their own: â€Å"A similar incident occurred four and a half years later.† (Compare â€Å"A similar incident occurred after a four-and-a-half-year interval.†) We had already covered hyphenation errors here and here. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Does [sic] Mean?What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a RowPrepositions to Die With