Week 5 (cont) Academic Writing: Summary&Paraphrase

I was going to have a quiz for Advanced Writing Course, so I made an extra  reviewing about how to write -summary- and - paraphrase-. The website I'd found to study was

www.uefap.com

Reporting - paraphrase, summary & synthesis

One of the most important aspects of academic writing is making use of the ideas of other people. This is important as you need to show that you have understood the materials and that you can use their ideas and findings in your own way. In fact, this is an essential skill for every student. Spack (1988, p. 42) has pointed out that the most important skill a student can engage in is "the complex activity to write from other texts", which is "a major part of their academic experience." It is very important when you do this to make sure you use your own words, unless you are quoting. You must make it clear when the words or ideas that you are using are your own and when they are taken from another writer. You must not use another person's words or ideas as if they were your own: this is Plagiarism and plagiarism is regarded as a very serious offence.
The object of academic writing is for you to say something for yourself using the ideas of the subject, for you to present ideas you have learned in your own way. You can do this by reporting the works of others in your own words. You can either paraphrase if you want to keep the length the same, summarise if you want to make the text shorter or synthesise if you need to use information from several sources. In all cases you need to acknowledge other people's work.

Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is writing the ideas of another person in your own words. Paraphrasing is useful when you are using the work of others to support your own view. See Rhetorical functions in academic writing: Providing support
When paraphrasing, you need to change the words and the structure but keep the meaning the same. Please remember, though, that even when you paraphrase someone's work, you must acknowledge it. See Citation.


Look at this example:

Source
It has long been known that Cairo is the most populous city on earth, but no-one knew exactly how populous it was until last month.
Paraphrase
Although Cairo has been the world's most heavily populated city for many years, the precise population was not known until four weeks ago.

The following stages may be useful:

1. Read and understand the text.
2. Make a list of the main ideas.
   1. Find the important ideas - the important words/phrases. In some way mark them - write them down, underline or highlight them.
   2. Find alternative words/synonyms for these words/phrases - do not change specialised vocabulary and common words.
3. Change the structure of the text.
   1. Identify the meaning relationships between the words/ideas - e.g. cause/effect, generalisation, contrast. Look at Paragraphs: Signalling for more information.
   2. Express these relationships in a different way.
   3. Change the grammar of the text: change nouns to verbs, adjectives to adverbs, etc., break up long sentences, combine short sentences.
4. Rewrite the main ideas in complete sentences. Combine your notes into a piece of continuous writing.
5. Check your work.
   1. Make sure the meaning is the same.
   2. Make sure the length is the same.
   3. Make sure the style is your own.
   4. Remember to acknowledge other people's work 
    
6.  
    
   And here's what I've found from youtube. It is also interesting

 

Summary

A summary is a shortened version of a text. It contains the main points in the text and is written in your own words. It is a mixture of reducing a long text to a short text and selecting relevant information. Summarising is useful when you are using the work of others to support your own view. See Rhetorical functions in academic writing: Providing support
A good summary shows that you have understood the text. Please remember, though, that even when you summarise someone's work, you must acknowledge it. See Citation.
Look at this example:

Source
The amphibia, which is the animal class to which our frogs and toads belong, were the first animals to crawl from the sea and inhabit the earth.
Summary
The first animals to leave the sea and live on dry land were the amphibia.

 The phrase "which is the animal class to which our frogs and toads belong" is an example, not a main point, and can be deleted. The rest of the text is rewritten in your own words.
Try this exercise.

The following stages may be useful:

1. Read and understand the text carefully.
2. Think about the purpose of the text.
   1. Ask what the author's purpose is in writing the text?
   2. What is your purpose in writing your summary?
   3. Are you summarising to support your poins?
   4. Or are you summarising so you can criticise the work before you introduce your main points?
3. Select the relevant information. This depends on your purpose.
4. Find the main ideas - what is important.
   1. They may be found in topic sentences.
   2. Distinguish between main and subsidiary information.
   3. Delete most details and examples, unimportant information, anecdotes, examples, illustrations, data etc.
   4. Find alternative words/synonyms for these words/phrases - do not change specialised vocabulary and common words.
5. Change the structure of the text.
   1. Identify the meaning relationships between the words/ideas - e.g. cause/effect, generalisation, contrast. Look at Paragraphs: Signalling for more information. Express these relationships in a different way.
   2. Change the grammar of the text: rearrange words and sentences. Change nouns to verbs, adjectives to adverbs, etc., break up long sentences, combine short sentences.
   3. Simplify the text. Reduce complex sentences to simple sentences, simple sentences to phrases, phrases to single words.
6. Rewrite the main ideas in complete sentences. Combine your notes into a piece of continuous writing. Use conjunctions and adverbs such as 'therefore', 'however', 'although', 'since', to show the connections between the ideas.
7. Check your work.
   1. Make sure your purpose is clear.
   2. Make sure the meaning is the same.
   3. Make sure the style is your own.
   4. Remember to acknowledge other people's work.

4b/c. Distinguish between main and subsidiary information. Delete most details and examples, unimportant information, anecdotes, examples, illustrations, data etc. Simplify the text. Reduce complex sentences to simple sentences, simple sentences to phrases, phrases to single words.