King’s College London Pre-Sessional Programme
Afternoon Workshops
Referencing and Using Sources Effectively (1): Paraphrasing Strategies
Although being able to write summaries and paraphrases is a vital skill in academic writing,
students often confuse the two. In a summary, the main points are taken from an original
text and written in a shorter form. This is useful in an assignment if a writer wants to
present just the main ideas of something he or she has read. In a paraphrase, the original
writer’s ideas and words are rewritten in a different way. The word length is usually
similar to the original. A paraphrase is used when the written expression of the original is
difficult to read and needs to be clearer, and/or to avoid plagiarism.
It is important that when writing a paraphrase the meaning of the original piece of writing
(i.e. the facts or opinions presented by the original writer) is not changed.
Example
Read the following text:
Hurricanes, which are also called cyclones, exert tremendous power. These violent storms
are often a hundred kilometres in diameter, and their winds can reach a velocity of more
than seventy-five kilometres per hour. The strong wind and the heavy rainfall that
accompanies them can completely destroy a small town in a couple of hours. The energy
that is released by a hurricane in one day exceeds the total energy consumed by humankind
throughout the world in one year.
From: Oshima, A. and A. Hogue. 1999. Writing Academic English. 3rd ed. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Now read the following paraphrase of the text:
Tremendous power is exerted by cyclones, or hurricanes. They can often be one hundred
kilometres wide and attain wind-speeds of over seventy-five kilometres per hour. A small
town can be devastated in a few hours by the harsh rains and powerful winds which
accompany these tropical storms. They also release tremendous amounts of energy. A
hurricane releases more energy in a single day than the total energy used worldwide in one
year (Oshima and Hogue, 1999).
→ How does the paraphrase differ from the original text?
Paraphrases:
Adapted from Oshima, A. and A. Hogue. 1999. Writing Academic English. 21. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Using the “hurricane” texts above as an example, you will now look at the techniques you
can use for writing a paraphrase.
1. Synonyms: find synonyms for the original text.
Task 1: Match the synonyms in the box below with the words from the original text.
Word
tremendous
power
exert
hurricane
cyclones
violent
accompany
furthermore
diameter
velocity
wind
rain
completely
destroy
small town
couple of hours
energy
release
exceed
Synonym
Synonyms
width
devastate
force
output
regional centre
speed
produce
surpass
expend
great
totally
less than three hours
precipitation
tropical storms
come with
tropical storm
destructive
in addition
gale
Adapted from Oshima, A. and A. Hogue. 1999. Writing Academic English. 21. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
2. Parts of Speech: Change the parts of speech of some of the words in the original text,
then alter the grammatical structures to incorporate the different parts of speech.
Task 2: As in the example (1), write the part of speech for the words in (2) then change the
form.
(1) Original
Changed to:
day (n)
year (n)
violent (adj)
accompany (verb)
daily (adv)
annually (adv)
violence (n)
accompanying (adj)
(2) Original
Changed to:
width ( )
power ( )
consumed ( )
destroy ( )
(
(
(
(
3. Passive/Active Voice: Change the structure of sentences by changing the voice – active
to passive, or passive to active.
(i) Hurricanes, which are also called cyclones, exert tremendous power.
→ Tremendous power is exerted by hurricanes and cyclones.
(ii) The strong wind and the heavy rainfall that accompanies them can completely
destroy a small town in a couple of hours.
→ A small town can be destroyed in a couple of hours by the accompanying
heavy rains and strong winds.
4. Further Changes: Now the sentence can be rewritten using these synonyms.
Tremendous power is exerted by hurricanes and cyclones. becomes
Great force is produced by tropical storms.
A small town can be destroyed in a couple of hours by the accompanying heavy
rainsand strong winds. becomes
Regional centres can be devastated in less than three hours by the accompanying heavy
precipitation and gales.
Adapted from Oshima, A. and A. Hogue. 1999. Writing Academic English. 21. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
)
)
)
)
5. Combining sentences:
together.
use linkers or subordination to put sentences and clauses
Hurricanes, which are also called cyclones, exert tremendous power. These violent storms
are often a hundred kilometres in diameter, and their winds can reach a velocity of more
than seventy-five kilometres per hour.
→ Hurricanes, or cyclones, which can often be a hundred kilometres in diameter,and reach
wind velocity of more than seventy-five kilometres per hour, exert tremendous power.
Task 3: Look up the meanings and parts of speech for the three underlined words below,
then write the parts of speech for the synonyms in the table. Lastly, complete the
paraphrases for #1-9.
A manager’s success is often due to perseverance.
(
) (
)
(
)
To succeed (verb)
Success (
)
Successor (
)
Successful (
)
Succeeding (
)
Successfully (
)
To persevere (verb)
Perseverance (
)
Perseverant (
)
Persevering (
)
To manage (
Manager (
Management (
Managing (
Managerial (
Managerially (
)
)
)
)
)
)
Example: A manager often succeeds because of perseverance.
(n)
(v)
(n)
1. Perseverance often leads to _________________ _________________.
2. A _________________ manager is often _________________.
3. Successful _________________ is often a result of _________________ .
4. A _________________ who _________________ often succeeds.
5. _________________ often causes a manager to achieve _________________.
6. If a _________________ _________________ he or she often ________________.
7. _________________ often contributes to a manager’s _________________.
8. The _______________ of a _______________often stems from _______________.
9. ___________________________________________________________________
Adapted from Oshima, A. and A. Hogue. 1999. Writing Academic English. 21. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Task 4: Paraphrase the sentences below using the prompt words:
1. He felt irritable with his children.
His children_________________________________________________________________
2. Unemployment is rising rapidly.
More and more______________________________________________________________
3. It is not easy to change the way we think.
Changing___________________________________________________________________
Task 5: Paraphrase the following paragraphs. They start easy and get harder!
Jet Lag
People who travel and people whose work schedules are altered drastically often suffer
from jet lag, which is a disturbance of the body’s time clock. Jet lag sufferers are troubled by
both night-time sleeplessness and extreme daytime sleepiness, which inhibits their ability to
function normally.
(Simpson 2001, 21).
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Our Growing Deserts
As a result of the unsound use of land, deserts are creeping outward in Africa, Asia, and
Latin America. Worse, the productive capacity of vast dry regions in both rich and poor
countries is declining.
(Byrnes 1997, 11).
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Adapted from Oshima, A. and A. Hogue. 1999. Writing Academic English. 21. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Globalisation:
Economists claim that globalisation’s opening up of markets can increase efficiency and
reduce pollution, provided that the environmental and social damage associated with the
production of a product is properly factored into its market price.
(Baylis, Smith and Owens, 2008: 352)
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Road Congestion:
Currently, roads are often congested, which is expensive in terms of delays to the
movement of people and freight. It is commonly suggested that building more roads, or
widening existing ones, would ease traffic jams. However, this remedy has the disadvantage
of being expensive and liable to lead to more road use.
(Smith, 1999 in Bailey, 2010:15)
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Adapted from Oshima, A. and A. Hogue. 1999. Writing Academic English. 21. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Task 6
1. Look at the following examples paraphrasing from task 5. Compare them with your own
paraphrases.
Jet Lag:
According to Simpson (2001:21), travellers and shift workers often suffer from jet lag, which is a
change in the body clock. Effects can be insomnia at night or drowsiness during the day. Both of
these can inhibit normal functioning.
Our Growing Deserts:
Desertification is increasing in Africa, Latin America and Asia due to poor land use. These desert
areas cannot produce crops (Byrnes, 1997:11).
Globalisation:
Baylis, Smith and Owens (2008:352) point out the claim made by some economists that the opening
of markets can have a positive effect on the environment as long as the environmental and social
damage associated with production is taken into account in pricing.
Road Congestion:
Smith (1999 in Bailey, 2010:15) criticises the suggestion that road congestion can be alleviated by
widening or building new roads due to the expense and increase in road use that this would cause.
2.
Now answer the following questions with your partner.
a.
b.
c.
d.
What are the three main ways of citing sources given?
In Jet Lag, why is there a comma after the brackets?
What do the numbers after the date refer to? Are these necessary?
In Our Growing Deserts, what is the punctuation when the whole reference is in
brackets? Where is the full stop?
e. In Globalisation, why can we not write Baylis, Smith and Owens claim that the opening
of markets... ?( look back at the original source)
f. In Road Congestion, which one is the original source and which one is the source YOU
have read? Is there another place to put the Bailey reference?
Adapted from Oshima, A. and A. Hogue. 1999. Writing Academic English. 21. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.