Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Quoting in Academic Writing

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.

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

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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 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.

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Source: Paraphrasing summarising and quoting