How To Paraphrase In An Essay?
Posted By: Admin
Before we proceed with our discussion on how to paraphrase in an essay, it is necessary to know what is paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is defined as stating someone else’s idea in your own words. The meaning remains the same. Only that it is expressed in your own words.
In general, we usually paraphrase rather than quote throughout our paper because of the three main reasons. Following are the points which will help you to know how to paraphrase in an essay.
• Paraphrasing shows that you have clearly understood the relevant resources. To write anything in your own words it is always required to re read that particular text as many times required. Only then you can get a better idea and express it in your own words. It will also help readers’ understand better what you want to portray.
• Always rewrite the text in your own words to avoid any kind of plagiarism.
• Paraphrasing an idea means your own ideas thoughts will remain dominant throughout your paper.
Tips to understand better how to paraphrase in an essay
When you have decided to paraphrase a text in your writing, you must understand the process better.
• Read carefully the original source number of times so that you can understand it very well. Look away from the text and rewrite it in your own words.
• Choose whether you want to paraphrase the entire information from the source or select only those which are relevant to your work.
• Give it a thought how you would explain the passage to someone who doesn’t understand the subject area. Using your own words would help the person understand it better.
• Paraphrase the text in your own words and then compare it with the original to ensure you haven’t missed out any important points.
• If you wish to include any phrase from the original text, then write it within quotes and add the relevant page numbers to the citation.
Ways you can consider when learning how to paraphrase in an essay.
Effective paraphrasing involves more that one of the following ways. You can consider the techniques when you are paraphrasing in your essay.
• Words can be used having same meaning and not similar meaning
• You can change the words order
• Form of the word can be changed
• You can change the voice from active to passive or vice versa
• Sentence structure can be changed by using different connecting words
This is to ensure that your new version is different from the original one but the meaning remains the same.
Conclusion
The question how to paraphrase in an essay differs from quotation and summary. Paraphrasing is something where you are using the text to explain it in your own words rather than changing the meaning. Quotation is something where you need to quote anything from the text as it is without changing words or meaning. Summary is something which you have to write in your own words after reading the entire text and also you can add your own visions.
