Summarizing and paraphrasing

Course ENG102
Lecturer- Nur-E Hafsa
 Summarizing
A condensed version of an original passage or writing. It provides only the main
points and eliminates extra details, but a summary is considerably shorter than the
original work. Summarizing helps a reader gain a more concise understanding of
the text. Main ideas are often found in topic sentences. These are usually the first
sentence of a paragraph. The concluding sentences often contains the main idea.
1. Checklist for S
 Reread the original passage carefully in order to fully understand the concept &
author’s meaning.
 Identify the main points of the passage.
 Rewrite the passage (in your own words-no copying) using only the main points
of the original work (e.g., thesis statement and conclusion)
 Compare your text to the original and use the “vision test”. (The original work must
be twice the size as your work. If not, you need to “shrink” or cut down the
number of words you use!)
 Do not express your opinion in a summary.
 Do not add any information that is not mentioned in the passage.
 Include only the most important ideas.
1.A summary must:
 Be in your own words!
 Be shorter (by half) than the original passage.
 May contain some of the words from the original
work, however these single words must be
contained in “quotation marks”.
 Convey the original meaning but does not evaluate
or comment on the author’s original work.
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is a restatement of the author’s original thought
and meaning. Paraphrasing means formulating someone
else’s ideas in your own words. To paraphrase a source, you
have to rewrite a passage without changing the meaning of the
original text.
Paraphrasing is an alternative to quoting, where you copy
someone’s exact words and put them in quotation marks. In
academic writing, it’s usually better to paraphrase instead of
quoting, because it shows that you have understood the
source and makes your work more original.
Every time you paraphrase, it’s important to cite the source.
You also have to be careful not to use wording that is too
similar to the original. Otherwise, you could be at risk of
committing plagiarism.
1. Checklist for Paraphrasing

 Reread the original passage carefully in order to fully understand

the concept & author’s meaning.
 Identify the main points of the passage.
 Write your version of the text without looking at the original
 Compare your text to the original and use the 5-finger test.
(If you count more than 5 exact words other than preposition,
conjunction, and articles you need to change it!)
1. 4 must for paraphrasing

 Be in your own words!

 Be near or longer than the original passage.
 Be used to explain a difficult/complex concept or passage.
 Convey the original meaning.
1. Paraphrasing tips
Writing an idea in a different way than the published version can be difficult.
There are four tricks you can apply to help you do so:
 Start your first sentence at a different point from that of the original source
Example:
Original/given: We started our journey to Dhaka in the morning.
Paraphrased: In the morning we set off for Dhaka.
In the example, you can see that we started by introducing the context
(the morning) followed by the last part of the original sentence: the
expectations of creators, regulators and users. In fact, the key pieces of
information are mentioned in a completely different order.
 Use as many synonyms as possible
Synonyms are words or phrases that means the same thing. Our example
uses several synonyms:
Example:
Original/given: We started our journey to Dhaka in the morning.
Paraphrased: In the morning we set off for Dhaka.
 If you’re struggling to think of synonyms, a thesaurus can be a useful tool.
However, don’t overdo it! It’s perfectly acceptable and often necessary to use
some of the same words as the original text (for which there are no synonyms,
commonly used words). It would be unnecessarily confusing to use synonyms
for words like “technology”.
 Change the sentence structure
For example, if the sentence was originally in the active voice, change it to
passive. The active voice is when a sentence is led by the subject (the thing
doing the action). When the object (the thing receiving the action) leads the
sentence, that sentence is written in the passive voice.
Example:
Original/given: Alexander Graham Bell invented telephone.
Paraphrased: Telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.
 Break the information into separate sentences
Although paraphrasing will usually result in a word count
roughly the same as an original quote, you may be able to
play with the number of sentences to make the text different.
Example:
Original/given: Alexander Graham Bell invented telephone
which is a cornerstone in the history of communication
system.
Paraphrased: Telephone was invented by Alexander
Graham Bell. This invention led the path to modern
communication.
In this example, one long sentence was broken into two. The
opposite could also be the case, i.e. if the original quote is
comprised of two sentences, you may be able to combine
the information into one.
 
Examples of summarizing and paraphrasing:

1. Man is forever changing the face of nature. He has been doing so since he first appeared on the earth. Yet, all
that man has done is not always to the ultimate advantage of the earth or himself. Man has, in fact, destroyed
more than necessary. In his struggle to live and extract the most out of life, man has destroyed many species of
wildlife; directly by sheer physical destruction, and indirectly by the destruction or alteration of habitats. Some
species may be able to withstand disruptions to their habitat while others may not be able to cope. Take the simple
act of farming. When a farmer tills a rough ground, he makes it unsuitable for the survival of certain species.
Every change in land use brings about a change in the types of plant and animals found on that land. When man
builds a new town, this means the total destruction of vast areas of farmland or woodland. Here, you have the
complete destruction of entire habitats and it is inevitable. It follows therefore, that every form of human activity
unavoidably upsets or changes the wildlife complex of the area. Man has destroyed many forms of wildlife for no
reasonable purpose. They have also made many great blunders in land use, habitat destruction and the
extermination of many forms of wildlife.

Summary
 
Human beings have been bringing about changes in the nature since their advent to the Earth. But their
indiscriminate alteration to nature sometimes leaves a damaging impact. Men have brought changes to nature for
their food, habitats at the cost of destruction of living places of other species which eventually create imbalance in
the nature. Unwise moderation to the environment caused by human beings have set the stage for destruction of
other animal lives.
2. In the early days of farming, people did not understand how plants obtained essential
nutrients. It so happened that wood ash, fish remains and slaughterhouse waste were
thrown on vacant land just to get rid of them. Then, people started to notice that the grass,
bushes and shrubs on this vacant land began to grow very well. They reasoned that if
their farmland were similarly treated, the growth of their crops would also improve. People
gradually began to realize that the nutrients required by plants came from the soil and that
the amount of nutrients could be increased by the application of such organic remains to
the soil. Thus, started the manuring process in farming. The practice of manuring has
been practised as early since the seventeenth century. However, the importance of
manuring was not properly understood until scientists began to study the nutritional needs
of plants and gave birth to fertilizers. Thus, gradually, the use of fertilizers became
accepted by farmers.
Summary
At the initial stages of cultivation, the idea of using nutrients to plants came to human
knowledge by accident. A result of disposing kitchen waste to barren land, opened the
eyes of human beings regarding the source of nourishment of plants and crops. From that
time to seventeenth century manuring had been done using kitchen rubbish to the land.
However, the use of fertilizers became widespread after the invention of it by the
scientists.
3. Human needs can be narrowed down to three essentials: air, water and food. Without
air one would not survive ten minutes; without water one would likely die of dehydration
within ten days; and without food, the body would probably expire after ten weeks. The
average person requires between six and eight glasses (about two litres) of drinking water
a day to maintain the hydration of tissues in the body, and to facilitate the physiological
processes of digestion. In addition, water acts as a transport medium for nutrients within
the body, helps to remove toxins and waste materials, stabilizes the body temperature,
and plays a crucial part in the structure and function of the circulatory system. In short,
water is the elixir of life. People living in modern cities get water at the turn of a tap, a
convenience that has spawned a careless attitude towards this crucial substance. What is
more, most Asian governments provide water to consumers and industries alike at a low
to nominal tariff.
Summary
Three natural elements are crucial for the existence of human being, namely- air, water
and food. However, the most important among these three is- water. Water is responsible
for the overall maintenance of a human body. But, still the inconsiderate use of this
invaluable element can bring disastrous effect to human lives. Asian governments have
advanced this disaster by offering water at a minimal cost to their citizens.
4. One of the greatest men ever to have lived in the world was Dr Alexander Flemming. He was a
dedicated English doctor who was very keen to do his best to cure his patients. However, there were
no bacteria-fighting drugs at that time and many of his patients died of blood-poisoning. Therefore,
Dr Flemming tried to discover a bacteria-fighting drug through experiments in his laboratory. He
cultivated harmful germs on dishes of jelly. Surprisingly, he discovered that the harmful germs were
killed by the mould in the jelly. The organisms in the mould produced chemical substances which
killed the harmful germs. This was a fantastic discovery in 1928 - a mould that could kill harmful
germs! As a result, Dr Flemming wanted to find the chemical substance made by the mould. Finally,
he found the substance which was three times more effective than carbolic acid, the disinfectant for
killing germs then. The new drug became known as penicillin, after the name of the mould. Dr
Flemming's next challenge was to produce a large amount of this antibody for use on his patients.
Summary
 
This paragraph depicts the discovery of penicillin by the greatest human being of all times- Dr.
Alexander Flemming. However, this life saving drug came into being as a result of an effort to search
out for a bacteria destroying medicine. After the discovery of penicillin which was powerful enough to
destroy germs, it became a gigantic task for him to initiate huge scale production of this antibody to
treat his patients suffering from blood contamination.