Paraphrasing Exercise

There are three ways to include source material in your research paper writing: summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting. Each of these strategies capitalizes on different types of information that can be useful. The following exercise is designed to help you both gather content for your current work and learn different paraphrasing techniques.

Paraphrasing is putting a particular passage into your own words. Your paraphrase should be shorter than your research material, and you should condense the material. Using InfoTrac® College Edition or an online search engine, find an article that helps support the claim you intend to make in your research paper. Paraphrase the useful material. Be sure to cite your paraphrase correctly (using the citation style your instructor prefers), including in-text citations and a list of works cited.
How is paraphrasing useful for research paper writing? Why should you use this strategy of writing?
How does the paraphrased writing you’ve done here help call attention to your paper’s position in a logical or an emotional way?
Paraphrasing helps you expand the breadth and depth of your writing. What is breadth? What is depth? In what ways, specifically, has the paraphrasing you’ve done helped you expand your breadth? Your depth? Be reflective and thorough here.
Pick another article using InfoTrac® College Edition or a search engine. Gather the information you need and paraphrase it here, correctly formatting your work, of course. Afterward, discuss how the process of searching for content, synthesizing the information, and paraphrasing it on paper has helped you think about your main claim in your research paper. Have you come up with different ideas for warrants, grounds, or rebuttals? What makes your writing clearly distinct from your paraphrase of a passage?

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