PARAPHRASING
Paraphrasing is rewriting the essential ideas in your own words. You must rephrase the author’s ideas without changing the meaning.
HOW TO PARAPHRASE A COMPLEX SENTENCE
1. Read the sentence slowly and carefully.
2. Use a dictionary to clarify the meaning of any unfamiliar words.
3. Identify the topic of the sentence.
4. Identify the key ideas in the sentence.
5. Determine the relationship between the ideas.
6. Use synonyms to replace key words.
7. Check to determine that each paraphrased sentence has the same meaning as the original text.
HINT: The paraphrase should simplify the author’s point.
This topic is discussed in your textbook on pages 91-92 (3.5).
DIRECTIONS: Each statement below is followed by two possible paraphrases. Check the paraphrase that more accurately expresses the point of the original statement.
1. Actually, we do not really know how or why the practice of throwing rice at a nuptial began.
* The custom of throwing rice originated at weddings.
* The origin of the custom of tossing rice at a marriage ceremony is unknown.
2. As recently as twenty or thirty years ago, the hamburger was a basic food in the United States, Canada, and Europe but it was not eaten in many other countries at the time.
* The hamburger is not as popular a food in Asia as it is the United States until recently.
* The hamburger became popular in North America and Europe before it became popular in other nations.
3. People do not know if pasta was invented in China and carried to Italy or if it was invented in both places and probably many other places also.
* Perhaps pasta was created at several different times in many different countries.
* Pasta was created in China and Italy.
4. Early colonists took a dim view of the lion because it attacked their livestock.
* The first colonists didn’t see the lion clearly.
* The lion seen as a threat to farm animals belonging to early colonists.
5. Dreams presumably have always fascinated humanity, for they seem to release us from all limitations of space and time.
* People have always been curious about dreams because they free us from the restrictions of waking life.
* Humanity has always been fascinated by dreams probably because they cannot go beyond the limits of time and space.
5. Personal worth and self-identity are heavily impacted by the opportunity to work and by the type of employment one chooses to do.
* A person’s job and their ability to work have an important impact on his or her identity and self esteem.
* One cannot feel good if one is unhappy with his or her job.
5. The abacus is just a visual record of the computations going on in the mind of the person using it.
* The abacus is a tool that enables us to record or picture the arithmetic we are performing in our minds.
* The abacus allows us to complete the mathematical problem in the person’s mind.
In the space provided, write a one-sentence paraphrase for each of the following statements. Your paraphrase should be a complete sentence that accurately restates the author’s point without copying the author’s words.
1. Computers have been called “mind tools” because they enhance our ability to perform tasks that require mental activity. Our ability to use a computer complements our mental capabilities and makes us more productive.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Gestures not only facilitate communication, but since they differ around the world, can also lead to misunderstanding, embarrassment, or worse so to get along in another culture, it is important to learn the appropriate gestures of that culture.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
