Paraphrasing Effectivelyand

Using In-Text CitationsBy: Whitney Wilhelm

English II, 2013-2014Based on the OWL at Purdue (see “Work Referenced”)

A paraphrase is…

• One acceptable way to include information from an acknowledged source

• Your version of ideas and facts from another source that includes more details than a summary (is more specific)

(Use paraphrasing when you want to “re-word” main ideas, not when you want to summarize a large portion of the text.)

Paraphrasing is valuable because…

• It will help you convey complex information efficiently

• It will reduce the number of quotes in your paper

• It helps you understand the material better

How to Paraphrase Effectively

1. Reread a passage until you really understand it.2. Put that passage off to the side and write your own

version of the information down.3. Check your version against the original passage. Did

you express the information accurately without using the same phrases? Change it as needed.

4. Put quotation marks around any phrase or term that is the same as the original. Don’t do this randomly – only unique phrases/terms should be quoted, not just parts you couldn’t figure out how to paraphrase.

5. Use an in-text citation (within the sentence, or in parenthesis) to cite where the information came from.

In-Text Citations

• You must cite where your information came from.

• You can provide that information…– in the sentence

• ex: According to James Smith, author of The Cambodian Genocide…. (pg#).

• if it is a book source, be sure to put the page number in parenthesis at the end of the sentence, before the period.

– using parenthetical citation (see next slide)

Parenthetical Citation

• Put the first word of the Works Cited citation in parenthesis at the end of the sentence.

• Books: (Author’s last name pg#).– Example: (Smith 15).

• Articles: (“First word of article title”).– Example: (“Holocaust”).

• Entire Websites: (First word of website title).– Example: (United).

Example: Original

Original text:• The twenties were the years when drinking was against

the law, and the law was a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past. From Kathleen Yancey, English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25-27.

Example: Paraphrased

Paraphrased:• During the twenties lawlessness and social

nonconformity prevailed. In cities organized crime flourished without police interference, and in spite of nationwide prohibition of liquor sales, anyone who wished to buy a drink knew where to get one (Yancey 25). Musicians like Louis Armstrong become favorites, particularly among young people, as many turned away from highly respectable classical music to jazz (Yancey 26). One of the best examples of the anti-traditional trend was the proliferation of young "flappers," women who rebelled against custom by cutting off their hair and shortening their skirts (Yancey 27).

Work Referenced

"Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words." Purdue OWL. The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/619/>.