1.6. Paraphrasing

When we take a passage, examine it carefully so as to grasp its meaning, and then try to express that meaning in another form, we are said to paraphrase the passage. The exercise demands a careful examination of the passage to be paraphrased. We must guard against some common errors in paraphrasing. The first of these is the belief that every word of the original must be changed. Not infrequently we meet words or phrases that defy paraphrasing as they stand. We must not take the word, or the phrase, or even the sentence, as a unit of paraphrasing, but the whole passage. This enables us so to change the whole structure as to preserve the complete meaning, while avoiding literal renderings of individual phrases. When finished, a paraphrase should read like a bit of original composition. It must express the meaning of the original, but it must do this without sacrificing its claim to be good ordinary idiomatic English. This is a case where the method of testing by time is especially useful. A paraphrase should always be judged by the effect it produces as English, when read after time has been allowed for the original to pass from the memory.

There is one great advantage connected with the practice of paraphrasing. It enforces the widening of the student’s vocabulary. We all fall into ruts in our use of words. If we write a letter or an essay we are at liberty to choose our own words, and we naturally fall back upon those we are familiar with. In this way our stock of available words tends to remain fixed. In paraphrasing, the very fact that a certain number of words and phrases are already used, sets us seeking for others. Further, since the ideas expressed are not our own, it is probable that our familiar words do not fit them so well as they do our own familiar thoughts, so that again we are forced to call in words from our reading vocabulary, and in many cases these are added to our permanent writing vocabulary.

2. Written forms

2.1. Précis-writing

In paraphrasing you have to re-cast a given passage in your own words. In writing a précis, or summary, you go further, for you have to strip a given passage down to its leading ideas and to re-cast it in the smallest number of words possible. Précis-writing is an extremely useful ability. It is frequently used for official purposes, when a summary of letters or documents must be prepared for an official who has no time to read the originals; but there are many other occasions when it is useful to be able to express a number of ideas in the smallest possible space, and practice in précis-writing will help you to form a clear concise style.

In condensing ten pages of print into two or three, it is clear that much must be omitted. The art of précis-writing lies in making the right omission, and in skillfully combining what is left. The omissions depend on the type of précis you are writing. The informative précis preserves the greater part of the material contained in the original. The indicative précis, characterized by maximum semantic compression, requires greater condensing and omissions. The précis based on one informational source is called a monographic précis. The précis founded on two or more pieces of writing which are discussing one topic (theme) is called a review précis.

Before you try to summarize a passage, read it carefully to discover the author's purpose and point of view. To facilitate further work, the paragraphs of the passage are numbered. After that the text is gone over again and its key fragments are underlined right in the original or copied out from the text. These are words, phrases or sentences that in the best way characterize the author's central ideas (themes) discussed in the passage. Be also on the lookout for the author's own compact summaries, either at the beginning or end of a passage or at points of transition. Each group of fragments belonging to a certain paragraph is marked out by the number of the corresponding paragraph. Then arrange your key fragments into a kind of plan. Think it over and begin organizing your précis. Keep the logical order in which the author's ideas have been presented in the original, but avoid following the exact wording too closely. Omit illustrations, quotations, and repetitions used for the sake of emphasis. Figures of speech should also be omitted or curtailed considerably. Bind sentences together by such link words as hence, while, therefore, as, thus, etc. Add no com­ment of your own to the original.

In other words, while writing a précis you must state the essential ideas contained in the text in the smallest number of sentences and produce a new piece of prose many times smaller, organizationally and stylistically correct, and devoid of any element of your interpretation or critical appreciation.

To learn the art of précis-writing you should:

1. Carefully read the story and fix in your mind all the things mentioned in it. Then read the story carefully again.

2. Note down the logical division of the text into several parts.

3. Consider the parts of the text to find out what micro topics it is dedicat­ed to.

4. Write the micro topics down in the form of a plan.

5. Find the words, phrases or sentences in the text, which in the best way characterize the indicated micro topics.

6. Begin organizing your précis. Keep the logical order in which the ideas have been presented in the text. Omit the quotation and all details that have no direct bearing on the indicated issues. Be simple, concise and direct.

7. Read your précis and appreciate its length and quality.