READING AND SUMMARIZING AND PARAPHRASING

READING
When asked to write a summary on a particular reading or when asked to
respond to a particular reading, you obviously have to read the passage. But
most students make the mistake of thinking that one read is enough. If you
really want to understand what you’re reading, be prepared to read the text
multiple times. You should also employ a few basic reading strategies used
by almost all critical readers. The following is a process of basic reading
strategies with which you should become familiar.

Get a General Overview

The first read is just to get a general overview of the passage and to prepare
you for more in-depth readings. Pay attention to the title and any headings,
but don’t try to do more on the first read than just read for a general
overview, and don’t expect that you’ll understand the text in any depth at
this point.

Annotate
Now get out your pencil or pen and highlighters and get ready to annotate.
When you annotate, you interact with the text, making notes in the margin
and marking up material using circles, asterisks, boxes, connecting lines,
underlines, highlighting, and so on. How you mark a text is up to you, and
there are many different ways to do it. Here are just a few suggested
strategies that you might use to interact with your text:
☻First, you might try to visually chunk the text into parts by drawing
lines to divide the essay into parts or the different ideas that the
author address. You can also use the headers (if provided) to help you
do this.
☻Mark passages that you agree or disagree with, and make a quick
note as to why.
☻Jot down how certain passages make you feel.
☻Mark areas that are confusing to you.
☻If a passage sparks a memory, make a note of it.
☻Ask questions—How? Why? and so on—in the margins.
☻Look for reading strands, which are simply repetitions. To do this,
look for and mark specific words or phrases (ideas, really) that are
repeated. You can also look for repeating emotions, questions,
rhetorical modes, transitions, arguments, and so on. If a concept or
rhetorical move is repeated over and over again, it’s a good bet that
it’s important to the text.
☻Try to identify the author’s thesis, main ideas, and details. You
might want to use three different colored highlighters for this one.

Note: All of the above can NOT be done in one reading. Try chunking up the
tasks into multiple reads, but also be aware that while you might be looking
for repetitions you also might notice main ideas. In other words, all of these
strategies will blend together, but you shouldn’t try to do them ALL in just
one reading. The more you read a passage, the better you’ll understand it.

Once you feel as though you understand the passage well and can identify
the author’s thesis, main ideas, and details, then you’re ready to summarize.
SUMMARIZING
A summary is a shortened version of the original text in which you restate in
your own words, organization, and style the author’s thesis and main ideas.
A summary does not contain your own thoughts or opinions. Generally,
details are left out of a summary. However, you may need to briefly explain
some of the details or pull in an example that the author uses. But do this
only if you think your reader will not understand the main ideas being
summarized unless you provide a bit more explanation. In other words, do
not assume that your reader has read the text you’re summarizing.

(When you give a detailed rendering of something, (thesis, main ideas, AND
details) you’re paraphrasing. A paraphrase is about the same length as the
original, and contains every idea in the original, whereas a summary is much
shorter and contains usually only the main ideas. See Paraphrasing for more
details,)

Finding the Thesis

The thesis is the one main point that the author is trying to make about his
or her subject. Below are some strategies to help you discover the thesis.
☻First, keep in mind that a thesis contains a limited subject + a claim.
The limited subject is the topic about which the author writes. The
claim is the author’s OPINION about that subject. The author may have
a sentence or two that clearly states his or her thesis, but sometimes
you have to infer what the thesis is. (In other words, the thesis isn’t
always clearly stated in the essay.)
☻You should always start with the title to help you figure out the
subject and sometimes even the claim or opinion. For example, if the
title of the essay is “Writer’s Retreat,” then you can assume that the
essay is going to be about a writer’s retreat, and you can also assume
that the claim will have something to do with the need to have a
retreat when writing. Of course you should always follow up your
assumptions with a close reading of the text.
☻You can also figure out the subject matter by paying attention to key
ideas that are repeated over and over again in the text (what’s known
as a reading strand). If an idea (or emotion, action, etc.) is repeated
over and over again, then it’s a good bet that the essay is about that
idea.
☻Use the dominant rhetorical mode to help you figure out the subject
matter and opinion. If, for example, the dominant mode is definition,
 then ask yourself what the author is trying to define, which will give
you the subject. Then analyze what the author is trying to do with the
definition. Does the author, for instance, struggle with the definition?
Then maybe the author’s overall point is that the concept is difficult to
define. Does the author offer multiple definitions? Then perhaps the
author’s thesis is that the concept has many definitions.
☻Whatever you do, make sure that you offer the author’s opinion
about the subject, not just what the author does. If, for instance, you
say that Wang Ping in “Ways to Ai,” looks at all the definitions of love—
or defines love in various ways, then you are simply telling the reader
what this author DOES rather than what she THINKS. One way to get
out of this habit is to consciously use the word “argues” in your
sentence. This may force you to figure out just what the author thinks.
For example, when you say that Wang Ping in “Ways to Ai” looks at all
the definitions of love and ultimately argues that the term is too
complex to hold one meaning, then you’ve got an opinion. The word
“argues” forces you to think about what the author’s thinking, not just
doing.
Notice how the following model first sentences focus on what the
author is saying rather than doing.

The First Sentence

The first sentence of a summary generally integrates the source you’re
summarizing by introducing the author (full name plus credentials) of the
text, the title of the text, and the author’s thesis.

Below are some sentences on which you can model your own first sentences.
Notice that some of these sentences use quotes. (A quote is when you use
the author’s exact words, which must be surrounded by quotation marks.)

(1)Pediatrician Roger Flax in “Don’t Be Cruel” argues that positive criticism

can motivate rather than humiliate.
(2)Positive criticism, asserts Pediatrician Roger Flax in “Don’t Be Cruel,” can
motivate rather than humiliate.
(3)According to Dr. Roger Flax, a pediatrician, in “Don’t Be Cruel,” positive
criticism can motivate rather than humiliate.
(4)Positive criticism can motivate rather than humiliate, explains Dr. Roger
Flax, a pediatrician, in “Don’t Be Cruel.”
(5)In “Don’t Be Cruel,” Dr. Roger Flax, a pediatrician, points out that positive
criticism can motivate rather than humiliate.
(6)Dr. Roger Flax, a pediatrician, demonstrates in his essay “Don’t Be Cruel”
how positive criticism can motivate rather than humiliate.
(7)Pediatrician Dr. Roger Flax strongly recommends in his essay “Don’t Be
Cruel” that we use positive criticism to motivate others rather than
negative criticism, which only humiliates and degrades.
Titles
Titles of long works, such as a book or the name of a magazine, are either
underlined or italicized. (Use one or the other, but never both.) Titles of
shorter works, like the title of an article from a magazine, are put in quote
marks. Also notice how the main words in the titles are capitalized.

Punctuation
Commas and end punctuation, when used with quotation marks, go inside
the quote mark.

Finding the Main Ideas

The rest of the summary should give the author’s main ideas that support his
or her thesis. Here are a couple of strategies to help you find the main
ideas:
☻Once you have the author’s thesis, try asking questions like “What?”
or “Why?” or “How?” to get at the main ideas. For example, let’s say
you’re summarizing a passage in which the author argues that we
should not use racial profiling in these terrorist times. If you ask the
question “Why?” and then find the answers to the question in the text,
you probably have found the main ideas.
☻You can also use the dominant rhetorical mode to help you figure out
the main ideas. For example, if the mode is cause and effect, then
look for the causes and/or effects; these will most likely be the main
ideas. If the mode is process and analysis, then look for the steps or
stages; these will most likely be the main ideas. If the mode is division
and classification, then look for the different categories; these will
most likely be the main ideas. And so on.

A Sample Summary
The main ideas for the sample thesis—we should not use racial profiling to
secure out boundaries in these terrorist times—could be (1) because it is not
constitutional and (2) because it promotes racism and hate. A summary of
this fictional piece might look like this:

Dr. Huge Grimm, an authority on terrorism who consults for the United
Nations, in his article “No Profiling,” argues that we should not resort to
racial profiling “to secure our boundaries in these terrorist times.” (Thesis)
Grimm first argues that the practice is not constitutional since the “spirit” of
the Constitution guards against discrimination. (Main Idea #1) In making
this argument, Grimm analyzes several constitutional amendments,
explaining that . . . (Detail) Grimm also points out that racial profiling
promotes racism and hate. . . (Main Idea #2)

Notice how the first main idea (“not constitutional”) is briefly developed with
a detail (“analyzes several constitutional amendments”). In this case, the
detail is necessary for the reader to understand what Grimm means when he
says, “the ‘spirit’ of the Constitution guards against discrimination.” The
main idea must be developed with more details in order for the reader to
comprehend the idea. But, technically speaking, the
main idea is simply that the practice isn’t constitutional.

Note: Refer to sources by last name only once you’ve introduced them.

Keep in mind that determining the author’s thesis and main ideas is
a function of reading. If you are unsure about the thesis or main
ideas, you need to reread the text until you feel confident.
 Summary Checklist

Use the following checklist before you turn your summary in to make sure
you’ve covered everything.

First Sentence:
1. Does the first sentence introduce the author using his or her full name
plus credentials?
2. Does the first sentence introduce the title of essay in quotation marks?
(Longer works are italicized or underlined.)
3. Are commas and periods placed within quotation marks when applicable?
4. Are all major words in the title capitalized?
5. Does the first sentence follow the model sentences or a variation thereof?
6. Does the first sentence contain the author’s thesis?

Body Paragraph(s):
1. Do the remaining sentences give the author’s main ideas that support the
thesis?
2. Are the main ideas developed enough so that a reader will understand
them? (Add in a few details if not.)
3. Does the summary contain only the ideas and opinions of the source
being summarized? (Your thoughts, opinions, examples, and so on should
not appear in a summary.)

Editing and Citations:

1. Is the writing coherent? (Does it make sense the way it is written?)
2. Is the writing free from grammatical and punctuation errors?
3. Is the summary consistently in present tense?
4. Is quoted material in quotation marks?
5. Does the summary contain parenthetical citations after quotes and
paraphrases and at the end of paragraphs?
 PARAPHRASING

Just like summarizing, when you paraphrase, you put the author’s ideas into
your own words, organization, and style. But unlike a summary, a
paraphrase presents ALL of the author’s ideas and is approximately the
same length as the original or even a bit longer. Often, writers do not
paraphrase an entire document but rather a particular passage that is
integral to whatever the writer is discussing.

Paraphrase Plagiarism
One of the most common forms of plagiarism (when you barrow someone’s
ideas but don’t properly document the ideas) is paraphrase plagiarism. It is
not enough to simply change a word or two in an original sentence and call
this a paraphrase. Look at the following example.

Original Text
Thinking like a writer also means figuring out how to be successful in
different kinds of situations.
(Taken from Lynn Troyka’s Quick Access, 5th edition, page 3)

Incorrect Paraphrase
According to Troyka, hinking similar to an author means too that you need to
figure out how to do well in other instances.

Notice how the above paraphrase is choppy and rather difficult to read. This
is because the author simply substitutes one word for another: similar for
like; author for writer; too for also; and so on. What this author needs to do
is put this information in his or her own organization and style so that the
prose will flow smoothly. Take a look at the next example.

Correct Paraphrase
According to Troyka, you have to be able to deal effectively with many
different
“situations” if you want to adopt a writer’s mindset.

See how this paraphrase does more than just substitute a few words. First,
notice how the organization of ideas has been flipped. Instead of beginning
with “Thinking like a writer,” the author first deals with being “successful in
different kinds of situations.” And second, notice how this author puts the
ideas in his or her own style. This can be seen most predominately in the
change of voice from third person to the second-person “you,” but is also
evident in the author’s word choice.

Paraphrase Strategies
If you’re struggling with paraphrase, try these strategies.
☻If you’re dealing with a large passage, chunk up the information.
Don’t try to paraphrase the whole passage at once.
☻Read the text several times, and then turn the text over. Do not try
to write your paraphrase with the text in sight since you’re more likely
to adopt the original writer’s organization and style.
☻Speak the ideas out loud. Most of us are more proficient in thinking
in the spoken language rather than the written. Use this to your
advantage by trying to say the ideas out loud until you gasy them just
the way you want to write them.
☻Discuss the information with a friend. Have someone read the
passage you’re trying to paraphrase. Then, without looking at the text,
see if you can explain what the original author wrote. Do this often
enough, and you will get the information in your own words and style.
☻If you’re absolutely stuck on a word, try the thesaurus, but be
careful. You don’t want to use words that only a very few people will
understand. Remember, you want your prose to flow.
 Got a Better Word for “States” or “Says”?
Signal Words for Varying Introductions of Sources

Instead of constantly saying, “The author states” or ‘The author says,” use
the following words to help you introduce your sources. Remember that
variety helps prevent your reader from getting bored.

Beware: Use a dictionary to help you choose the following words, because
you don’t want to substitute a word like “muses” for “says” or “implies” for
“states.” Make sure you understand the connotation of a word before you
use it!

acknowledges, adds, admits, advises, agrees, analyzes, argues, as (name)

explains, asks, asserts, assumes, believes, claims, comments, complains,
concedes, concludes, condemns, conjectures, considers, contemplates,
contends, deduces, deems, deliberates, denies, describes, disagrees,
disputes, dissects, emphasizes, estimates, evaluates, examines, explains,
explores, finds, has found that, holds that, hypothesizes, illustrates, implies,
insists, investigates, judges, maintains, mulls over, muses, notes, observes,
persuades, points out, ponders, predicts, presumes, probes, proposes,
questions, rationalizes, reasons, reflects on, rejects, reports, responds,
reveals, ruminates, says, scrutinizes, senses, shows, speculates, studies,
suggests, support, supposes, surmises, takes into account, theorizes, thinks,
warns, wonders, writes
Handout courtesy of Cheryl Smith and Valerie Turner