Last update 5/6/2020
Visual: Screen opens to a background image with a person typing on a laptop and a notebook and pencil, along with the Walden University Writing Center logo. The title Walden University Writing Center and tagline “Your writing, grammar, and APA experts” appears on the screen. The screen changes to show the series title “Paraphrasing Sources” and the video title “Paraphrasing Process Demonstration.”
Audio: Guitar music.
Visual: Slide changes to the title “Paraphrasing: Strategies for practice” and the following:
Audio: The process of paraphrasing can be difficult for many writers new to academic writing or learning in a new field. When writers find it difficult to paraphrase, one strategy is to use the following process:
However, you might be wondering: How do I use this process in practice?
To help you use this process, let’s watch one writer as they use this strategy and paraphrase a source.
Visual: The visual changes to show a sample journal article PDF with the sentence the narrator reads aloud highlighted.
Audio: The writer is paraphrasing this highlighted sentence: “Critical and operationally relevant information is now commonly exchanged via social media and other digital platforms that are well-suited to delivering data directly to citizens and emergency management organisations and to encouraging exchanges between them.”
Visual: The following is displayed on the screen as the narrator continues talking: “Step 1. Read the passage.”
Audio: The writer reads this quote multiple times to ensure they fully understands the main idea.
Visual: The following is displayed on the screen as the narrator continues talking: “Step 2. Establish your purpose.”
Audio: The writer wants to include this information in their paragraph about how modern communication is more democratized.
Visual: The visual changes to show a blank Word document. The writer types the sentences that the narrator says aloud. The following is displayed on the screen: “Step 3. Write the main point.”
Audio: They consider the main point of the quote, summarizing it as such: “Social media helps communication for disasters; we can also use social media to talk to these organizations.”
Visual: The following is displayed on the screen: “Step 4. Explain to a coworker.”
Audio: The writer thinks about how they’d express this main point to a co-worker. They write the following: “Social media and other online platforms are well-suited to facilitate direct communication between citizens and emergency management organizations.”
Visual: The following is displayed on the screen: “Step 5. Compare, revise, and cite.”
Audio: The writer compares their paraphrase with the quote. They realize they used too much of the same phrasing, so the voice isn’t really their own. They try again, this time writing the following: “Emergency management organizations and citizens can easily communicate with one another through social media and other online platforms.”
This second paraphrase is in the writer’s own voice, clearly representing the original source’s main idea but in their own way. The writer finishes their paraphrase by adding a citation: (Mehta et al., 2017)
Visual: The screen changes to an ending slide with slide a background image with a person typing on a laptop and a notebook and pencil, along with the Walden University Writing Center logo. The email address writingsupport@mail.waldenu.edu appears on the screen.
OASIS