College Composition / Unit 23 CMP 0555 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Writing a Fair Paraphrase
The idea
A fair paraphrase keeps the source's meaning exactly while using new wording and sentence structure.
In practice
Write one in order. First, read the passage until you understand it fully. Second, note its main point and each supporting point. Third, set the original aside and write the ideas in your own words and your own sentence structure. Fourth, compare your version with the original: have you kept every point, added nothing, and changed nothing in meaning? Fifth, check that no distinctive phrases of the original remain; any you keep must go in quotation marks. Sixth, introduce the paraphrase so readers know whose ideas follow, and cite it.
Where people slip
Swapping in synonyms while keeping the original's sentence structure is not paraphrasing. A paraphrase needs both new words and a new structure, or it becomes copying with small changes.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for College Composition