Paraphrasing FAQ

When should I quote?

- Quoting is necessary when you want to incorporate the ideas of another author using that
author’s words and/or sentence structure. It may be particularly helpful to do so if you want to
include the perspective of a particular historian or when you incorporate information from primary
sources.

When should I paraphrase?

- Paraphrasing is appropriate when you want to utilize the ideas of another author ​entirely in your
own words and using your own structure.​ It is not appropriate to simply change words around
from an original text and call it paraphrasing, that is called patch-writing.

What is patch-writing?
- Patch-writing is a form of plagiarism. It is the most common variant of plagiarism and it
constitutes the practice of copying a portion of an original text, making small changes to the
words in the original, and citing the source without using quotations.

How can it be plagiarism if I cite my source?

- Patch-writing is plagiarism because the essay-writer (you) is suggesting to the reader that she/he
only used the original author’s ideas, but not that author’s writing. The reality is that the
essay-writer is preserving the original author’s sentence structure and passing off someone else’s
writing as their own. It is called patch-writing because the essay writer is taking someone else’s
writing and “patching” it up by replacing words. ​If you want to use the sentence structure of the
original, you should ​always, ​quote that original.

I am now frightened and upset. How can I avoid this terrible outcome?
- Patch-writing is easy to avoid. Simply do not take notes in complete sentences unless you are
quoting or you are writing down your own thoughts. NEVER copy a large chunk of someone
else’s writing into your essay without quoting it, even if you intend to make changes to that chunk.
You are almost certain to make a mistake if you do this. Here are six suggestions from the
Purdue Online Writing Lab:
1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision
using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to
indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately
expresses all the essential information in a new form.
5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed
exactly from the source.
6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it
easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/1/)

This is feeling abstract. Can you give me some examples to clarify?

- Yes. Say you want to use some ideas from Edith Hamilton’s ​Mythology​. Here is a quote from the
introduction:
 - “Human gods naturally made heaven a pleasantly familiar place. The Greeks felt at home in it.
They knew just what the divine inhabitants did there, what they ate and drank and where they
banqueted and how they amused themselves. Of course they were to be feared; they were very
powerful and very dangerous when angry. Still, with proper care a man could be quite fairly at
ease with them”.1

- Now, let’s say I want to incorporate some of her ideas into my paper, but I don’t want to quote
her. Here is an acceptable paraphrase that might be used in a paragraph:

- Edith Hamilton writes in Mythology that one of the reasons the Greeks thought of their
gods as human was because it made it easier for them to imagine what heaven must
have been like. Even though they still treated the gods with reverence, the Greeks still
felt that they understood them.2

- This paraphrase is acceptable because it attributes the ideas to their author - Hamilton - while
completely rephrasing them to incorporate them into a point that the essay-writer is making. Here
is an ​unacceptable​ example of patch-writing:

- Gods that were like humans of course made the afterlife seem normal. The Greeks felt
that they could live in it. They understood exactly what the gods did there, their food and
drink and how they entertained themselves. Obviously the gods were still scary, they
were strong and frightening. That said, people felt comfortable with them if they took
proper precautions.3

- This is an ​unacceptable​ example of patch-writing because the basic sentence/paragraph

structure is preserved from the original. In this situation, the essay-writer should have directly
quoted Edith Hamilton instead of using a thesaurus to change around the words.

What if I want to paraphrase from multiple authors in one paragraph?

- That is actually ideal. Each paragraph should attempt to include information from multiple
sources to help support ​your​ argument and ideas. Remember that you can also use direct
quotations as a piece of evidence.

I am worried that I won’t know whether I’m doing it right or not. What should I do?
- Make sure that you keep your notes and communicate with me as you are writing your paper.
You can show me the original and what you have written and directly ask whether you are
paraphrasing well or not. If you have ​any​ doubt, you should probably use a direct quotation
rather than a paraphrase.

1
Edith Hamilton, ​Mythology​ (New York: Warner Books, 1999), 17.
2
Hamilton, 17.
3
Hamilton, 17.