Techniques for a good paraphrase

·       Read the original.

·       Put it away a bit – out of direct sight.

·       Consider the facts and their relationships (contrastive, addition, cause-effect, chronological)

·       Consider what words could be replaced with synonyms? Antonyms? (careful with synonym and the key scientific concept à repetition, shorten the term, use pronouns, superordinate terms (this device, this system…)

·       Consider ways to change the sentence structure: active-passive, clause reorder

·       Write your version and then check against the original. Strings of three words or more should be “quoted”.

 

Synonyms – antonyms: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus

Signposts (contrast, cause-effect, addition): http://sana.aalto.fi/awe/cohesion/signposts/index.html

Examples for how to restructure your sentences: http://sana.aalto.fi/awe/cohesion/infostrux/light/strategies/index.html

 

1.       Consider the original passage below and he paraphrased passages a + b + c.  Do you consider them acceptable? Why or why not?

Original:

We do not yet understand all the ways in which brain chemicals are related to emotions and thoughts, but the salient point is that our state of mind has an immediate and direct effect on our state of body.  

(Source: Siegel, B. (1986). Love, Medicine and Miracles (p. 69). New York: Harper and Row.)

Source for this exercise: https://integrity.mit.edu/handbook/academic-writing/avoiding-plagiarism-paraphrasing

Paraphrase A: Siegel (1986) writes that we still do not know all the ways in which brain chemistry is related to emotions and thoughts, but the important point is that our mental state has an immediate and direct effect on our physical state.

Paraphrase B: According to Siegel (1986), our mind affects our body quickly and directly, although we do not yet understand every aspect of how brain chemicals relate to emotions and thoughts.

Paraphrase C: Siegel (1986) postulates that although the relationship between brain chemistry and thoughts and feelings is not fully understood, we do know that our psychological state affects our physical state.

 

Exercise 2: Read the original passage and try to paraphrase it, using the techniques listed on the checklist above. Remember to also mark the citation (parenthetical or numerical [1].

 

A variety of evidence points to the existence of dark matter in the universe. As it is not directly observable with conventional astronomical techniques, we must rely on computer modules to guide our understanding.

 

Source:

[1]. Lanzel, P.A. and Barnes, E.I. (2009). Global behavior of radial orbit instability. Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics (Aug.): 1-13. Excerpt is from p.1.

 

Exercise source: https://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/sites/default/files/paraphrase.pdf

 

After you have written your answer, please share them (no names required) on this Padlet wall:

https://padlet.com/laura_mendoza/u8y0prs0gh1q20zc

It is fun to see how many different kinds of solutions there are for paraphrasing the same passage.


Viimeksi muutettu: tiistaina 26. huhtikuuta 2022, 12.27