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Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Quoting in

Academic Writing

Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head, Technical Operations, Tutorsindia info@ tutorsindia.com

INTRODUCTION

According to Plato, art is mimetic in nature.

Writing is an art, and all forms of Writing

involve thorough research. When we indulge

in writing, we get inspired by other’s idea.

We incorporate and assimilate them in our

writing through ways such as paraphrasing,

summarizing, and quoting. This should

reflect our understanding and interpretation

of those ideas.

While summarizing and paraphrasing reflect

broader sections of the main text, quotations

are brief divisions of a source. Further,

summarizing involves choosing an extensive

part of a source such a chapter from a book

or an act from a play and stating their key

points. On the other hand, paraphrasing

involves stating the ideas presented in a

specific part of a source such as a passage in

a condensed manner. In spite of their subtle

variations in representation, when

summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting are

employed, they must be attributed to the

source to avoid plagiarism.

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SUMMARIZING

Summarizing refers to presenting an

overview of a source by omitting unessential

or redundant details and retaining only the

significant essence of the ideas conveyed.

While summarizing, it is better to make

notes as you go through a source text. A

consolidated view of the source text is

presented without any departure from the

subject. These two stated strategies are vital

for a concrete and comprehensive summary

of a source. Additionally, when relevant

examples from a source are provided, it

substantiates the argument being presented.

Summarizing: an Example

Interesting blog: How To Solve The Biggest

Problems With Dissertation Editing

Example: Original

How do you go about identify your strengths

and weaknesses, and analyze the

opportunities and threats that tide from

them? SWOT Analysis is a valuable

technique that helps you to do this. What

makes SWOT particularly powerful is that,

with hardly a thought, it can help you to

discover opportunities that you would not

otherwise have realized. And by having a

clear understanding of your weaknesses, you

can bring about changes and do away with

threats that might otherwise hurt your

capability to advance in your role. If you

look at yourself using the SWOT

framework, you can start to separate

yourself from your competitors, and

additionally develop the specialized talents

and abilities that you need in order to

improve your career and help you achieve

your individual goals.

Summary

SWOT Analysis is a technique that helps

you identify strengths, weakness,

opportunities, and threats. Accepting and

managing these factors helps one to develop

the abilities needed to achieve their goals

and progress in their career.

PARAPHRASING

Paraphrasing is the way by which a text is

presented by altering certain words and

phrases of a source. However, the

paraphrase should reflect proper

understanding of the source. Paraphrasing

proves useful for personal understanding of

complex concepts and it helps in explaining

information present in charts, figures, and

tables.

When using synonyms of certain words and

phrase, it should be ensured that the author’s

intention is not changed and that it does not

express an incorrect interpretation of the

source ideas. When key concepts or phrases

are taken from the source, they need to be

put within quotation marks. Paraphrasing is

the best alternative when there is an

abundant usage of direct quotes in writing.

Example: Original

Albert Einstein is one of the most prominent

scientific personalities. His theory of black

holes was confirmed when the first picture

of a black hole was photographed. It is

inconceivable how such an important figure

once had to refuse something much more

important than him. In 1952 Einstein was

offered the role of the Israeli President since

he had been considered as the best Jew in

the world. The satirical aspect of this was

that Einstein did not belong to Israel.

PARAPHRASED

Scientist Albert Einstein is one of the most

historic figures. His theories have enabled us

to know more about space than ever. Even

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without having adequate resources Einstein

theorized the existence of black holes which

have been photographed by space

researchers. He was once offered the job of

leading the nation of Israel in 1952 which he

did not accept. Even though Einstein was

not Israeli, he still had positive ratings in the

country as he was considered one of the best

Jewish men in the world.

QUOTING

Quotations are exact representations of a

source. The source of quotations can either

be spoken words or a written one. Quotes

permeate an authoritative tone to academic

writing and they present strong and reliable

evidence to the topic or claims made.

However, quotations should only be

sparingly used to support your writing and

they should not form a large junk of it.

Quotations are inserted into academic

writing in different ways as follows:

Direct Quotes: They are provided

within quotation marks and are properly

cited. Example: “Madame Leval was

connected with Duer,” Alexander Baring

wrote.

Block Quotes: A quote of three or more

lines is often put as a block quote

without quotation marks.

Example: In The Hound of the

Baskervilles the hound is actually seen

only in the end:

Never in the delirious

dream of a disordered brain could

anything more savage,

more appalling, more

hellish be conceived than that dark

form and savage face

which broke upon us out of

the wall of fog. (Doyle 82)

In-text Quotation: Very short quotes are

usually integrated within a sentence and this

enhances the flow better. Example: According to John Pascoe

Fawkner, 'all men have equal political

rights,' whether they had once been convicts

or not.

In conclusion, research flourishes on

inspiration and assimilation of unusual

concepts. However, when developing your

research, do give proper credit to the origin.

REFERENCE:

Source: https://student.unsw.edu.au/paraphrasing-

summarising-and-quoting