Paraphrasing & Citations
"Remember, sift it, don't lift it" ----- Ms Levasseur
Tips for paraphrasing from the Writing Center, U of WI at Madison
- When reading a passage, try first to understand it as a whole, rather than pausing to write down specific ideas or phrases or copying/pasting them.
- Be selective. Choose and summarize only the material and evidence that helps you make a point or your claim.
- Think of what “your own words” would be if you were to explain to someone else main idea of the article. How would you explain the evidence to back it up?
- Stay away from using quotations, at least for this assignment, so that you can practice paraphrasing main ideas. You must cite anything that is data, research findings, someone else's opinion or hypothesis.
Tips and methods of paraphrasing
A. Look away from the source; then write.
Read the text you want to paraphrase several times—until you feel that you understand it and can use your own words to restate it to someone else. Then, look away from the original and rewrite the text in your own words.
B. Take notes.
Take abbreviated notes; set the notes aside; then paraphrase from the notes a day or so later, or when you draft.
If you find that you can’t do A or B, this may mean that you don’t understand the passage completely. Ask your teacher for some guidance about the article or consider reading even more articles about the same topic in order to gain insight and understanding via someone else's explanations.
The sentence starters listed below are not only a way to create a paraphrase, but also a way to understand a difficult text. Be sure to include in-text citations at the end of these types of sentences.
Paraphrasing Sentence Starters
- According to X...
- X believes that...
- X discovered ....
- Research shows that...
Nanuet Students use Noodletools to format your APA bibliography
Create your own username/password. You will use this throughout high school so pick a username you will remember and that is professional.
APA Style Resources
APA Referencing: The Basics YouTube video explaining how to create APA citations via Massey University
Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style Guide Website with many examples of citing various formats. Used by many colleges.
Difference between Paraphrasing, Quoting & Summarizing: Purdue Labs resources for high schoolers and teachers
Email: slevasseur@nanuetsd.org
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Twitter: @NUFSDLibrary