Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Learning Outcomes

This package aims to

introduce paraphrasing
introduce summarizing

By the end of the package you should be able to

distinguish between a paraphrase, a summary, a quote, and plagiarism
paraphrase
summarize
avoid patchwriting
write a summary paragraph

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Do you know how to incorporate information from your research into your writing? Do you know how to paraphrase? How to summarize? Can you distinguish between paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting, and plagiarizing?

Drag-and-drop activity: Match the words with their descriptions.

Important vocabulary:

Condensed means to reduce or make more compact. A good example from everyday life is condensed milk. Condensed writing is shorter writing.
Attributed means to give credit to someone. In writing, we give credit to authors by including their names in in-text citations.

Examples of paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting, and plagiarizing

Original Text*

If you screw your face up at the taste of a lemon and cannot bear brussels sprouts, then it is probably because you are a "supertaster," along with 25% of the UK population. This means you have twice as many taste buds on your tongue as the rest of us - something which makes you particularly sensitive to bitter tastes.

Read the following passages and identify them as a paraphrase, a summary, a quote, or plagiarism.

Did you identify the passages correctly? As you probably know, quoting uses the exact words of a text, includes quotation marks to show that the words were copied exactly from another source, and cites the source in an in-text citation. You probably also know that plagiarism is incorrectly copying words from a source. You may not know the differences between paraphrasing and summarizing. Let's look more closely at how you can write about others' work using your own words.

*All texts in this package are adapted from
Roxby, P. (2012, December 9). Why taste is all in the senses. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20640337

Here are some basic steps to follow as you paraphrase and summarize. The main differences between these two skills are show in blue.

How to paraphrase?

read the original source
take notes and/or highlight key points
write a paraphrase without looking at the original

substitute words
reorganize the sentence structure
reorganize the ideas

condense the ideas slightly, but include important supporting details
(optional step) paraphrase your paraphrase to make sure that you use your own words
check your paraphrase at the end by rereading the original to make sure that you haven't changed the meaning
end with an in-text citation

How to summarize?

read the original source
take notes and/or highlight key points
write a summary without looking at the original

substitute words
reorganize the sentence structure
reorganize the ideas

condense the summary to the main ideas
check your summary at the end by rereading the original to make sure that you haven't changed the meaning
end with an in-text citation

Additional tips:

be accurate when taking notes
In other words, develop a consistent system to keep track of the original words (i.e., put quotation marks around all original words copied from the source, use different colors for your words and the original words)
keep track of page numbers, titles, authors, publications, etc.
make sure you understand the meaning of the original source
make sure you copy no more than 2-3 words from an original source
avoid patchwriting (see next section)

What is patchwriting?

Patchwriting is a bad paraphrase, or could even be considered plagiarism. It is using parts of the original text and joining (or patching) them together with some of your own words. It often includes using too many of the original's words and also using the original's sentence structures and word order.

Read the following paragraph. Then, decide if the sentences below are a paraphrase or patchwriting.

Original text

Knowing how the senses interact to create flavour could also have important consequences for public health. Dr. Smith says it could solve the problem of too much salt being eaten in our food. As he explains, "imagine a clever salt molecule which gives a salty experience in the mouth but puts less salt in the food. It's the future of food science."

Exercise

Finding the key words

Step 1 – read the paragraph until you understand the meaning Original text

Original text

At a recent Royal Society of Medicine conference, Dr. Spence said colour, lighting and ambience could all impact our perception of taste when eating. His experiments show that red-coloured food gives an increased perception of sweetness and the colour of the plate the food is on can have an impact too. Playing music or sounds appropriate to the food we are eating can also accentuate its taste. Even the sound of a crisp being crunched can influence our view of its freshness, making manufacturers focus on the crunchiest crisp possible.

Step 2 – identify the keywords (on paper, use a highlighter or circle)
The keywords in this example are marked in red.

Step 3 – make a list of similar words or phrases with the help of a dictionary or thesaurus

The first five words have been done for you.

colour =
(Can you think of a synonym for colour? Sometimes the original word is the best word.)

lighting =
illumination
light

ambience =
setting
environment
mood
atmosphere
vibe
tone

perception =
awareness
observation
sensitivity
acuity

taste =
flavour

Can you think of similar words or phrases for the following five words? Consult a dictionary or thesaurus.

experiments =

food =

sweetness =

sounds =

crisp =

Now, let's look at the vocabulary used in a paraphrase.

Paraphrasing words and phrases

Compare the original text and a paraphrase. Can you identify paraphrased words and phrases?

Original text

Paraphrase

As reported at a conference held by the Royal Society of Medicine, research conducted by Dr. Spence indicate that the taste of food is influenced by several factors: colour, illumination, the setting, and sounds. The color red, for example, emphasized sensitivity to sweet tastes. This sensitivity can be caused by the color of the food and also the color of the serving dishes. The addition of sounds – like music or the crunching noise of potato chips – can influence our perception of how fresh food is and how it tastes.

In the first column, you'll see words or phrases from the original text. Find the best match for the word or phrase in the paraphrase. Then, in the second column, type your answer in the box.

Reorganizing sentence structures and ideas.

Read the original paragraph.

Original

Smell is a particularly powerful driver of taste. This connection between smell and taste has been the subject of studies conducted by Dr. Charles Spence, from Oxford University's department of experimental psychology. His work on understanding the brain's role in our food preferences has attracted attention from a number of chefs whose interest in neurogastronomy is not surprising. Dr. Spence explains that a "big aroma" produces a "big flavor hit." His research shows that "many big companies and top restaurants want to harness that reaction. They want to know which product will give rise to the greatest blood flow to the orbitofrontal cortex of the brain." When the receptors pick up the signal for taste, it travels to this part of the brain, located in the middle of the forehead.

Summarizing

A key difference between paraphrasing and summarizing is the amount of condensing, or shortening, of the text. A paraphrase includes the main and supporting ideas. A summary condenses to just the main ideas.

Click on this link to download and print a copy of the article "Why taste is all in the senses."

Read through the entire article. As you read, highlight keywords and phrases in the text. In the left-hand column, paraphrase the focus of the paragraph using a keyword, phrase, or sentence.

Which column best condenses the information of each paragraph? Click on your answer.

Writing a summary paragraph

Using your notes, could you write a summary paragraph of the "Why taste is all in the senses" article?

When writing a summary paragraph, complete the following steps:

In your first sentence, identify the author, the title of the article, and the author’s main idea for the entire article, or thesis statement.
In the following sentences, focus on the ideas in the order that they appear in the article. Generally, you should include the three most important points of the article.
Use transitions and attributive tags* to move your reader from one idea to the next.
Give attention to the main points in proportion to how they appear in the article. In other words, if the author discusses Topic A for two paragraphs and Topic B for two pages, then your summary should include more information about Topic B.
Do not include your personal opinions in the summary.
Conclude with a sentence that summarizes the main points of the article.

Checking your progress.

Read the original paragraph and then complete the exercise below.

Original text

Another genetic variant means that some people are very sensitive to the smell and taste of coriander. For them, the green herb often found in curries and salads tastes like soap. According to Dr. Barry Smith, professor of philosophy and director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses at the University of London, we use all of our senses when we taste food. Smith explains, "you get the smell contributing and the touch, how smooth or creamy it is, and they all fuse together to give flavour." In other words, the intensity of a food's salty, bitter, or sweet flavor is dependent on the number of receptors working at the same time on our tongues.

The most important point to consider when deciding between a paraphrase and summary is what your goal is. If your writing needs supporting details, then a paraphrase is probably the best choice. If your writing needs to cover just the main ideas, then a summary is probably the best choice. Both paraphrasing and summarizing are effective when used appropriately.

To sum up. . .

When incorporating sources into your writing, be sure to attribute sources, to reorganize ideas, to reorganize sentence structures, and to substitute words.

Paraphrasing and summarizing have similarities, but they differ in the amount of condensing.

Paraphrasing = a slight condensing of the original (with supporting details)
Summarizing = a condensing of the original (just main ideas)

The key to successful paraphrasing and summarizing is to understand the text, write it in your own words, and check to make sure you have not changed the meaning.

Click the tabs to show contents.