Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting

Name:____________________________________________

Paraphrasing is restating the idea in your own words. It can be about the same
length or even longer than the original passage.

Summarizing is restating only the main points of the passage in your own words. It
is very brief.

Quoting is using the exact words of the author of the passage. It gives the author
credit for those words.

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

 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 depth of your writing

*Paraphrasing is not changing, deleting, or rearranging a few words in a statement.

How to paraphrase:
 Read the passage carefully
 Decide the main idea of the passage
 Identify important words or phrases
 Put the main points in your own words
Example: ORIGINAL PASSAGE
They have become part of our imaginations' landscape: the crusty Grinch who stole
Christmas, gentle Horton the elephant, the Cat in the Hat, and the persistent Sam-
I-Am with his green eggs and ham. All these and many more are the creations of
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to generations of readers as Dr. Seuss. Since
publishing his first children's book over fifty years ago, Geisel became perhaps the
most successful writer in the whole field of children's literature.

Paraphrased:
Theodor Geisel, known by everyone as Dr. Seuss, has been publishing children’s
books for over half a century. Because of characters Horton and Sam I Am, Dr.
Seuss is the quintessential author in American children’s literature.

Your Turn:
The adventuresome Cat in the Hat runs amok
while Mother is away, leaving a horrible mess
for the two astonished children who are so well
behaved. The remarkable qualities of the story
are its rhyme--done with only 223 words--and
its quirky illustrations that are as silly as the
tale itself.

“The hardest thing in the world is to let others be.” Carlos Castaneda

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will
live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Albert Einstein