Overview of quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing.
What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing? These
three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to
the closeness of your writing to the source writing.
Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source.
They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the
original author.
Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A
paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is
usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the
source and condensing it slightly.
Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the
main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original
source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview
of the source material.
Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries? You might use them to:
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Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
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 the breadth or depth of your writing
Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a
summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of
various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the
following example:
In his famous and influential work On the Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud
argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious,” expressing in coded
imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream work"
(6). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally and
subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging
in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (8)
Read this paragraph:
At least four separate theories of crime and punishment compete for
preeminence in guiding correctional policies. Justice: First, there is the ancient JudeoChristian idea of holding individuals responsible for their guilty acts and compelling them
to pay a debt to society. Retribution is an expression of society’s moral outrage, and it
lessens the impulse of victims and their families to seek revenge. Deterrence: Another
philosophy argues that punishment should be sure, speedy, commensurate with the
crime, and sufficiently conspicuous to deter others from committing crimes.
Incapacitation: Still another philosophy in correctional policy is that of protecting the
public from lawbreakers or habitual criminals by segregating them behind prison walls.
Rehabilitation: Finally, there is the theory that criminals are partly or entirely victims of
social circumstances beyond their control and that society owes them comprehensive
treatment in the form of rehabilitation (100-101).
--Dye, T. (1995). Understanding public policy (8th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
Now let’s look at a sample paraphrase of the passage. This sample paraphrase has
several key problems. Read the paraphrase that follows and then write down some of
the problems with this paraphrase on your sheet of paper. Make sure you are very
specific and neat.
Four separate theories about crime and punishment compete in guiding correctional
policies. The first is an ancient Judeo-Christian idea of justice. This idea holds
individuals responsible for their own actions and compels them to pay a debt to society.
In this case, retribution is an expression of society’s moral outrage. This lessens the
impulse of victims to seek revenge. A second theory of crime and punishment is
deterrence. This philosophy argues that punishment should e certain, swift, and
commensurate with the crime. If punishment is conspicuous, this theory holds that it will
deter others from committing crime. A third theory is the theory of incapacitation. This
theory is to protect the public from criminals by placing criminals behind prison walls. A
final theory of crime and punishment is the theory of rehabilitation. This theory suggests
that criminals are victims of social circumstances beyond their control. In this instance
society owes them comprehensive treatment in the form of rehabilitation (Dye, 1995).
Now that you’ve identified both the key points and the problems with the above
paraphrase, write your own paraphrase of the passage. You may incorporate quotes.
Now, let’s try some exercises to check your understanding of how to summarize.
Exercise I:
Knowing how to argue is a useful skill. We use it on ourselves in order to arrive at
decisions; we use it with others as we discuss business strategies or policy changes on
committees, as members of the local PTA, a law office, an environmental action group;
we use it as fundraisers for a cause, like saving whales, we use it in applying for
foundation grants and in drafting a letter to the editor of our hometown paper; we use it
when we discuss child abuse, toxic waste, tax cuts, pothole repair, working mothers, and
university investment policies. Our ability to express opinions persuasively—to present
our views systematically as arguments—will allow us to make some difference in public
life. If we lack the necessary skills, we are condemned to sit on the sidelines. Instead of
doing the moving, we will be among the moved; more persuasive voices will convince us
of what me must do. (pp. 222-223).
--Hall, B. & Birkerts, S. (1998). Writing well (9th ed.). New York: Longman.
Topic Sentence: Knowing how to argue is a useful skill.
For exercise I, you’ll have to choose the main points. Choose the main points from the
passage in the selection of sentences/phrases below. Write them on your own sheet of
paper.
1. “We must use it on ourselves in order to arrive at decisions”
2. “members of the local PTA”
3. “we use it with others”
4. “drafting a letter to the editor of our hometown paper”
5. “Our ability . . . will allow us to make some difference in public life”
6. “we are condemned to sit on the sidelines”
7. “saving whales”
Now, write a summary of the paragraph that includes all of the main points.
Review the description of a summary that you read yesterday!
For each of the following, write a summary on your own sheet of paper.
Exercise II:
Audiences want the sense that you’re talking directly to them and that you care that they
understand and are interested. They’ll forgive you if you get tangled up in a sentence
and end it ungrammatically. They won’t forgive you if you seem to have a “canned” talk
that you’re going to deliver no matter who the audience is or how they respond. You can
convey a sense of caring to your audience by making direct eye contact with them and
by using a conversational style. (p. 475)
---Locker, K. O. (2003). Business and administrative communication (6th ed.). St. Louis,
MO: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Exercise III:
Writing a memo is essentially like writing any other form of technical communication.
First you have to understand your audience and purpose. Then you gather your
information, create some sort of outline, write a draft, and revise it. Making the memo
look like a memo- adding the structural features that your readers will expect—is
relatively simple. Your software has templates, or you can build the structure into your
outline or shape the draft at some later stage. (p. 424)
--Markel, M. (1996). Technical communication: Situations and strategies. New York: St.
Martin’s Press.
Exercise IV:
The persistently poor are only a minority of the people who ever experience poverty, but
they place a disproportionate burden on welfare resources. Less than half of the people
on welfare rolls at any one time are persistently poor, that is, likely to remain on welfare
for five or more years. Thus, for most welfare recipients, welfare payments are a
relatively short-term aid that helps them over life’s difficult times. For others, welfare is a
more permanent part of their lives. (121)
--Dye, T. (1995). Understanding public policy (8th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
Let's look at examples of illegitimate and legitimate paraphrase. The original passage is from
Oliver Sacks' essay "An Anthropologist on Mars":
The cause of autism has also been a matter of dispute. Its incidence is about one in a thousand,
and it occurs throughout the world, its features remarkably consistent even in extremely different
cultures. It is often not recognized in the first year of life, but tends to become obvious in the
second or third year. Though Asperger regarded it as a biological defect of affective contact—
innate, inborn, analogous to a physical or intellectual defect—Kanner tended to view it as a
psychogenic disorder, a reflection of bad parenting, and most especially of a chillingly remote,
often professional, "refrigerator mother." At this time, autism was often regarded as "defensive" in
nature, or confused with childhood schizophrenia. A whole generation of parents—mothers,
particularly—were made to feel guilty for the autism of their children.
What follows is an example of illegitimate paraphrase:
The cause of the condition autism has been disputed. It occurs in approximately one in a
thousand children, and it exists in all parts of the world, its characteristics strikingly
similar in vastly differing cultures. The condition is often not noticeable in the child's first
year, yet it becomes more apparent as the child reaches the ages of two or three.
Although Asperger saw the condition as a biological defect of the emotions that was
inborn and therefore similar to a physical defect, Kanner saw it as psychological in
origin, as reflecting poor parenting and particularly a frigidly distant mother. During this
period, autism was often seen as a defense mechanism, or it was misdiagnosed as
childhood schizophrenia. An entire generation of mothers and fathers (but especially
mothers) were made to feel responsible for their offspring's autism (Sacks 247-48).
Exercise V:
Explain why this is an illegitimate paraphrase.
The following represents a legitimate paraphrase of the original passage:
In "An Anthropologist on Mars," Sacks lists some of the known facts about autism.
We know, for example, that the condition occurs in roughly one out of every thousand
children. We also know that the characteristics of autism do not vary from one culture to
the next. And we know that the condition is difficult to diagnose until the child has
entered its second or third year of life. As Sacks points out, often a child who goes on to
develop autism will still appear perfectly normal at the age of one (247).
Sacks observes, however, that researchers have had a hard time agreeing on the
causes of autism. He sketches the diametrically opposed positions of Asperger and
Kanner. On the one hand, Asperger saw the condition as representing a constitutional
defect in the child's ability to make meaningful emotional contact with the external world.
On the other hand, Kanner regarded autism as a consequence of harmful childrearing
practices. For many years confusion about this condition reigned. One unfortunate
consequence of this confusion, Sacks suggests, was the burden of guilt imposed on so
many parents for their child's condition (247-448).
Exercise VI:
Explain why this is a legitimate paraphrase.