Philosophy 5: Critical Thinking and Composition

Pierce College

Department of History, Philosophy, & Sociology

Lecture Notes for Chapter One of Sequence for Academic Writing

"Chapter 1" "Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation" Behrens, Laurence and Leonard J. Rosen. A Sequence for Academic Writing. 5th Ed.

Good Summaries

A) Objective: do not misrepresent that which is summarized

B) Purpose: focus on central idea

C) Brevity: exclude superfluous details

Guidelines "These pointers are not meant to be ironclad rules; rather, they are designed to encourage habits of thinking that will allow you to very your technique as the situation demands."

"Write a thesis–a one- or two-sentence summary of the entire passage" Crystalize the main point of what you are summarizing.

"Write the first draft of your summary"

Add only the details needed to explain/support your crystallization.

"Check your summary against the original passage"

Use this too often overlooked step to ensure objectivity.

Paraphrase

When you paraphrase, you express someone else's words with your own words.

Not a Summary

Whereas summaries condense material down, paraphrases do not.

Reasons to Paraphrase

A) Original wording is "dense, abstract, archaic, or possibly confusing"–to clarify what might be unclear

B) Help yourself understand the words you are paraphrasing

C) To "maintain a consistent tone and level in your essay"

Substitution

Try substituting different words, making sure that you understand the definitions of the original words and the words you substitute them with.

Sentence Order

"Sentence structure, even sentence order, in the paraphrase need not be based on that of the original."

That was from the Sequence text. What follows are some of my thoughts on paraphrasing: http://christopherlay.com/GenericMarginComments.htm

Paraphrasing Over Quotes: Paraphrasing is, in general, better than quoting.  Here is a good, general guide for when to paraphrase instead of quoting:  if you can convey the same information in your own words without loss of meaning, then a paraphrase is usually better.  Readers of your paper tend to understand you better than they understand academic articles.  When grading your papers, graders need to see that you understand what it is that you are representing.  If you can properly paraphrase passages, then it shows your grader that you understand the material better than someone who can only find the correct passage and quote it.  And if a paraphrase won't do, whenever you quote, you should also explain the quote to the reader, to help them understand it (and to show your grader that you yourself understand the quote).

Quoting is usually necessary when:

    1) attributing something controversial to the person quoted,

    2) you are pointing out something that is too easily overlooked, or

    3) your entire thesis depends on particular wording, or

4) there just simply is no better way of putting it.

Bad quoting occurs, in my mind, when it seems like:

    1) you have nothing to say and so are throwing in quotes,

    2) you are using long quotes to fluff up your essay, or

    3) you are afraid to commit to a paraphrase, when a paraphrase would convey the same information.