what is the similarities of summarizing and paraphrasing

Difference Between Summarizing And Paraphrasing

12 min read

Published on: Oct 14, 2023

Last updated on: Oct 14, 2023

What is Summarizing?

Summarizing is like making a big story or a lot of information shorter and easier to understand.

It's all about taking out the most important stuff and leaving out the less important things.

In simple words, it's about making complicated information simpler and more focused.

Why is Summarizing Useful?

Summarizing serves a critical purpose in academic settings. It allows individuals to quickly grasp the core concepts of a text, report, or discussion.

By extracting the most important elements, summarizing streamlines the information, making it easier to remember and communicate to others.

Consider this scenario: You've just read a lengthy article for a school project, and your teacher asks you to explain it to the class. Summarizing allows you to present the main points, saving time and ensuring that your classmates understand the key takeaways without slogging through the entire text.

Examples from Everyday Life

To better understand the concept of summarizing, let's look at some everyday situations. Imagine you've read a captivating book, and a friend wants to know what it's about.

Summarizing enables you to provide a concise overview of the plot, characters, and major events without revealing every detail. You offer your friend a glimpse of the story's essence.

Now, let's explore another important writing skill: Paraphrasing!

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is a way of expressing something in your own words while keeping the original meaning.

Unlike summarizing, which shortens a text, paraphrasing aims to rephrase it without losing any of the key ideas.

It's like taking a complex idea and explaining it in a simpler way but without changing what it means.

Why is Paraphrasing Important?

Paraphrasing is crucial because it helps you understand and communicate ideas more clearly.

When you paraphrase, you show that you really get what you're talking about. It's a way to avoid using the exact words of someone else, which is important to prevent plagiarism.

Examples of Paraphrasing

Let's say there's a sentence like this: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

When you paraphrase it, you could say: "The fast brown fox leaps over the inactive dog." See, the words are different, but the idea stays the same.

That's paraphrasing!

If you are still asking a question of what is the difference between summary and paraphrase, check out this example:

The Key Differences in Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Understanding the main distinctions and summarizing and paraphrasing similarities is vital. Let’s distinguish between summarising and paraphrasing in this table:

Difference Between Summarizing Paraphrasing And Direct Quoting

Summarizing, paraphrasing, and direct quoting are three distinct ways of using information in your writing.

Summarizing condenses the main ideas, paraphrasing rephrases in your own words, and direct quoting copies the text word-for-word.

Knowing when and how to use each technique is crucial for clear and effective communication in your writing.

Quoting, Paraphrasing And Summarizing Example

Original Text:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken"

Robert Frost wrote, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."

Paraphrasing:

In a forest, there were two paths that split, and I chose the one that was less traveled. This choice significantly impacted my journey.

Summarizing:

The author reflects on a moment when faced with a choice of two paths in a forest. They decided to take the less-traveled path, and this choice had a profound impact on their life.

When to Summarize

Summarizing is a valuable tool for students in various situations. Here are some scenarios when summarizing is the best choice:

Understanding Long Texts: When you have to tackle lengthy articles, textbooks, or reports, summarizing can help you break down the main ideas. It captures the text's essence without reading the entire document.
Study Notes: Summarizing is excellent for creating study notes. It condenses complex concepts from lectures or textbooks into a format that's easier to review before exams.
Book Reports: When your teacher asks for a book report, summarizing the key plot points and themes can provide a concise overview without revealing all the story's details.
Presentations: In group or class presentations, summarizing your research findings or a complex topic makes it easier for your audience to follow and understand.

If you are tired of traditional methods or find them time-consuming, you always have an option on-the-go!

Try Content Summarizer Now!

When to Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is particularly useful in specific situations where students need to rephrase and present information in their own words while maintaining the original meaning:

Research Papers: In academic research, you often need to include information from various sources. Paraphrasing enables you to incorporate these sources while avoiding plagiarism.
Quoting Information: When you quote information in your assignments, paraphrasing can help you introduce or discuss the quote in your own words.
Understanding Complex Texts: Paraphrasing can be especially helpful when you encounter complex or technical texts. It forces you to break down the content and explain it in simpler terms.
Enhancing Clarity: If you come across a sentence or passage in a text that's hard to understand, paraphrasing can make it more clear and accessible.

If you are tired of manual paraphrasing or find it overwhelming, you always have a quick and easy option!

Give a Shot to Paraphrasing tool for free!

Common Mistakes to Avoid While Summarising and Paraphrasing

When it comes to summarizing and paraphrasing, students can sometimes make common mistakes that affect the quality and accuracy of their work.

Let's identify these errors and provide practical tips on how to avoid them:

Common Mistakes in Summarizing

Overlooking Key Information: One common mistake in summarizing is leaving out essential details or key points. To avoid this, be sure to read the entire text carefully and highlight the crucial information before creating a summary.
Changing the Meaning: Sometimes, students unintentionally alter the meaning of the original text in their summaries. To prevent this, focus on maintaining the author's intent and use your own words to convey the ideas accurately.
Including Personal Opinions: A summary should be objective and not include personal opinions or interpretations. Avoid inserting your viewpoint into the summary; instead, stick to the facts presented in the text.

Tips for Avoiding Mistakes in Summarizing

Start by reading the text or source material carefully to grasp the main ideas.
Make a list of the key points and critical information.
Create your summary, ensuring you include these key points while omitting less important details.
Use your own words to explain the ideas, maintaining the original meaning.

Common Mistakes in Paraphrasing

Word-for-Word Copying: Paraphrasing isn't about changing a few words here and there while keeping the same sentence structure. Some students make the mistake of essentially copying the original text with minor alterations.
Losing the Original Meaning: On the other extreme, some students paraphrase so extensively that they lose the original meaning. It's crucial to strike a balance between using your words and preserving the essence of the source.
Inadequate Citation: Failing to give credit to the original source when paraphrasing is a significant error. Always include proper citations to avoid plagiarism.

Tips for Avoiding Mistakes in Paraphrasing

Read the source material and understand its main points thoroughly.
Rewrite the content using different words and sentence structure while retaining the original message.
Ensure you cite the source properly, even when paraphrasing, to acknowledge the original author's work.

Practice Exercises for Students

Here are some practice exercises to help students understand the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing via examples.

Exercise 1: Summarizing

Read the following paragraph and create a summary that captures the main points:

Original Paragraph:

"Pollution is a pressing issue worldwide, causing harm to the environment, human health, and the economy. It arises from various sources, including industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and improper waste disposal. Governments and individuals must work together to reduce pollution through stricter regulations, cleaner technologies, and better waste management."

"Pollution is a global problem with severe consequences for the environment, people's health, and the economy. It stems from multiple sources, such as industry emissions and vehicle exhaust. To combat pollution, cooperation between governments and individuals is essential, involving stricter rules, cleaner technology, and improved waste handling."

Exercise 2: Paraphrasing

Paraphrase the following sentence while maintaining the original meaning:

Original Sentence:

"The discovery of antibiotics revolutionized medicine by providing effective treatments for bacterial infections."

Paraphrased Sentence:

"The field of medicine underwent a significant transformation with the introduction of antibiotics, offering efficient remedies for bacterial infections."

Exercise 3: Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Read the passage below and create both a summary and a paraphrase:

Original Passage:

"The impact of climate change on ecosystems is a growing concern. Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns are affecting biodiversity and leading to shifts in the distribution of species. As a result, conservation efforts need to adapt to these changes, emphasizing the preservation of diverse ecosystems."

"Climate change is becoming a more significant worry for ecosystems. It alters biodiversity and species distribution due to temperature and precipitation shifts. Conservation strategies should now focus on maintaining diverse ecosystems in response."

Paraphrase:

"The influence of climate change on ecosystems is an increasingly prominent issue. Alterations in temperature and precipitation patterns are impacting biodiversity and causing changes in species distribution. Consequently, conservation initiatives must adjust to these shifts, emphasizing the protection of varied ecosystems."

In this blog , we've learned two important skills that can help students like you in your studies and beyond.

Remember, these skills take practice, but they're super useful. They'll help you succeed in school, understand complex ideas, and communicate better.

And if you still feel overwhelmed by the task, do not worry! MyEssayWriter.ai is your all-in-one solution!

Give this AI essay writer a try today for free!

Caleb S. (Mass Literature and Linguistics, Masters )

Caleb S. is an accomplished author with over five years of experience and a Master's degree from Oxford University. He excels in various writing forms, including articles, press releases, blog posts, and whitepapers. As a valued author at MyEssayWriter.ai, Caleb assists students and professionals by providing practical tips on research, citation, sentence structure, and style enhancement.

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what is the similarities of summarizing and paraphrasing

Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing (Differences, Examples, How To)

It can be confusing to know when to paraphrase and when to summarize. Many people use the terms interchangeably even though the two have different meanings and uses.

Today, let’s understand the basic differences between paraphrasing vs. summarizing and when to use which . We’ll also look at types and examples of paraphrasing and summarizing, as well as how to do both effectively.

Let’s look at paraphrasing first.

What is paraphrasing?

It refers to rewriting someone else’s ideas in your own words.

It’s important to rewrite the whole idea in your words rather than just replacing a few words with their synonyms. That way, you present an idea in a way that your audience will understand easily and also avoid plagiarism.

It’s also important to cite your sources when paraphrasing so that the original author of the work gets due credit.

When should you paraphrase?

The main purpose of paraphrasing is often to clarify an existing passage. You should use paraphrasing when you want to show that you understand the concept, like while writing an essay about a specific topic.

You may also use it when you’re quoting someone but can’t remember their exact words.

Finally, paraphrasing is a very effective way to rewrite outdated content in a way that’s relevant to your current audience.

How to paraphrase effectively

Follow these steps to paraphrase any piece of text effectively:

Read the full text and ensure that you understand it completely. It helps to look up words you don’t fully understand in an online or offline dictionary.
Once you understand the text, rewrite it in your own words. Remember to rewrite it instead of just substituting words with their synonyms.
Edit the text to ensure it’s easy to understand for your audience.
Mix in your own insights while rewriting the text to make it more relevant.
Run the text through a plagiarism checker to ensure that it does not have any of the original content.

Example of paraphrasing

Here’s an example of paraphrasing:

Original: The national park is full of trees, water bodies, and various species of flora and fauna.
Paraphrased: Many animal species thrive in the verdant national park that is served by lakes and rivers flowing through it.

What is summarizing?

Summarizing is also based on someone else’s text but rather than presenting their ideas in your words, you only sum up their main ideas in a smaller piece of text.

It’s important to not use their exact words or phrases when summarizing to avoid plagiarism. It’s best to make your own notes while reading through the text and writing a summary based on your notes.

You must only summarize the most important ideas from a piece of text as summaries are essentially very short compared to the original work. And just like paraphrasing, you should cite the original text as a reference.

When should you summarize?

The main purpose of summarizing is to reduce a passage or other text to fewer words while ensuring that everything important is covered.

Summaries are useful when you want to cut to the chase and lay down the most important points from a piece of text or convey the entire message in fewer words. You should summarize when you have to write a short essay about a larger piece of text, such as writing a book review.

You can also summarize when you want to provide background information about something without taking up too much space.

How to summarize effectively

Follow these steps to summarize any prose effectively:

Read the text to fully understand it. It helps to read it a few times instead of just going through it once.
Pay attention to the larger theme of the text rather than trying to rewrite it sentence for sentence.
Understand how all the main ideas are linked and piece them together to form an overview.
Remove all the information that’s not crucial to the main ideas or theme. Remember, summaries must only include the most essential points and information.
Edit your overview to ensure that the information is organized logically and follows the correct chronology where applicable.
Review and edit the summary again to make it clearer, ensure that it’s accurate, and make it even more concise where you can.
Ensure that you cite the original text.

Example of summarization

You can summarize any text into a shorter version. For example, this entire article can be summarized in just a few sentences as follows:

Summary: The article discusses paraphrasing vs. summarizing by explaining the two concepts. It specifies when you should use paraphrasing and when you should summarize a piece of text and describes the process of each. It ends with examples of both paraphrasing and summarizing to provide a better understanding to the reader.

Paraphrasing vs. summarizing has been a long-standing point of confusion for writers of all levels, whether you’re writing a college essay or reviewing a research paper or book. The above tips and examples can help you identify when to use paraphrasing or summarizing and how to go about them effectively.

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Fact checked: Content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. Learn more.

About the author

Dalia Y.: Dalia is an English Major and linguistics expert with an additional degree in Psychology. Dalia has featured articles on Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Grammarly, and many more. She covers English, ESL, and all things grammar on GrammarBrain.

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Paraphrasing vs Summarizing: A Comparative Analysis

Are you feeling overwhelmed with the complexities of academic writing, particularly when it comes to paraphrasing and summarizing? You're not alone. Many students and researchers struggle with these essential skills which are crucial for weaving in authoritative voices and perspectives into your papers without falling into the plagiarism trap.

Unfortunately, the line between paraphrasing and summarizing can often seem blurred, leading to confusion and potential academic missteps. But don't worry, the solution lies in gaining a clear understanding of both techniques, enabling you to confidently engage with source material. By mastering these skills, you will enhance your academic writing, ensuring that it is rich in content, plagiarism-free, captivating and reflective of a well-rounded understanding of the subject matter.

This article provides a comparative analysis of paraphrasing vs summarizing, exploring key differences and when to use each technique. By delving into the nuances of paraphrase vs summary, readers will gain insight into the common challenges of summarizing and paraphrasing and discover solutions to integrate these skills seamlessly into their writing.

What is Summarizing?

Summarizing is the skill of distilling the most significant elements of a text or content into a concise and clear form. This process involves identifying and extracting the main ideas or facts, and presenting them in a shortened version without losing the essence of the original content. Here's a breakdown of what summarizing entails:

The essence of Summarizing : It's about conveying the core information or arguments from a larger piece of work in a brief format. This includes understanding and articulating the main points in your own words.
Highlighting key points in the text.
Creating mind maps to visualize main ideas.
Developing flashcards for quick reference.
Useful in academic writing, research, and communication for providing a succinct overview without extensive detail.
An in-text citation is necessary to credit the original source, although page numbers are not required.
Tips for effective summarizing include reading the text multiple times, focusing on main concepts, and ensuring the summary is accurate, brief, and clear.

Summarizing serves as a fundamental tool in various contexts, especially when the goal is to give readers a quick understanding of a complex subject without delving into exhaustive details.

Read our complete guide on Summarizing to know more in depth about it.

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing, a critical skill in academic writing and communication, involves rewording text while preserving its original meaning and message. This technique is not merely about changing a few words here and there; it's about understanding the source material deeply, then expressing it in your own unique voice.

Here are some key insights into mastering the art of paraphrasing:

Purpose : To rewrite text in your own words while maintaining the original intent. Useful for citing details from another source, clarifying complex passages, and enhancing content quality.
Benefit : Enhances comprehension of the material, facilitates explanation to others, fosters creativity, develops writing style, and helps avoid plagiarism.
Read the original material thoroughly to grasp its full meaning.
Write the paraphrased content in your own words, incorporating your interpretation and thoughts.
Utilize synonyms and alter sentence structures but keep the core message intact.
Employ plagiarism detection tools to ensure originality.
Always attribute the paraphrase to the original source to avoid plagiarism.
Too similar wording or sentence structure to the original, altering the meaning, producing nonsensical text, and failing to cite sources.

Paraphrasing is more than a mechanical task; it's an opportunity to engage deeply with the text, presenting it through the lens of your understanding and style.

Key Differences

These distinctions highlight the importance of selecting the appropriate technique based on the writing's purpose and the desired depth of engagement with the source material.

Here's a breakdown of their key differences:

Content Length and Detail :

Summarizing is typically shorter, condensing the original text to its key concepts. Paraphrasing can be similar in length, slightly shorter, or longer, providing original content that conveys the main ideas.

Purpose and Requirement :

Summarizing aims to convey the main idea efficiently, ideal for giving a quick overview.

Paraphrasing focuses on demonstrating a deeper comprehension of the subject by conveying the meaning of the original message in one's own words.

Both require using your own words to rephrase the original content.

Choosing Between Summarizing and Paraphrasing :

Depends on the required detail level from the source. Summarizing is best when only the main ideas are needed, whereas paraphrasing is suitable for detailed exploration or explanation of the source material.

We will talk about this more in detail below

When to Summarize vs. When to Paraphrase

Deciding when to utilize paraphrasing versus summarizing is crucial for effective communication and writing. These techniques serve different purposes and are selected based on the specific needs of the writer and the audience. Below are guidelines to help determine the most appropriate method to use:

When the Idea Matters, Not the Wording : Opt for paraphrasing when the concept or idea from the source is crucial to your argument or content, but the original wording is not essential. The goal is to convey the same idea in your own words, providing clarity or a different perspective.
Application : This technique is particularly useful in academic writing, research papers, or detailed analysis where understanding and personal interpretation of the source material are required.
When Only the Main Points Are Needed : Summarizing is the best choice when the details in the source are not all relevant to your argument, and the audience needs only a concise overview of the original content. It distills the source down to its most crucial points.
Application : Ideal for providing a quick synopsis, background information, or an overview of a large work in presentations, reports, or when introducing a topic to readers unfamiliar with the subject.

Common Challenges and Solutions

Navigating the intricacies of paraphrasing and summarizing can be fraught with challenges. Here's a breakdown of common hurdles and practical solutions:

Challenge : Grasping the main idea and supporting points.
Solution : Engage in multiple readings and discussions to deepen comprehension. Utilize mind mapping to visually organize thoughts.
Challenge : Striking a balance between original expression and fidelity to the source.
Solution : Practice rephrasing with a focus on using synonyms and altering sentence structures without distorting the original meaning.
Challenge : Ensuring the rephrased or summarized content is accurate and coherent.
Solution : After writing, compare your version with the original to check for completeness and correctness. Peer review can offer additional insights.
Challenge : Fear of unintentionally plagiarizing.
Solution : Use plagiarism detection tools judiciously and always attribute the source correctly. When in doubt, quote directly but sparingly.
Challenge : Language proficiency, such as limited vocabulary and grammatical issues.
Solution : Leverage dictionaries, thesauruses, and online resources to enhance language skills. Engage in regular writing practice and seek feedback from knowledgeable peers or mentors.

By addressing these challenges with targeted strategies, individuals can enhance their ability to paraphrase and summarize effectively, thereby enriching their writing and academic work.

Understanding when and how to use each method can transform the way ideas are conveyed, ensuring clarity, originality, and depth in writing. The nuanced exploration of both processes, including the challenges and solutions associated with them, underscores their value in fostering a deeper comprehension of the material and enhancing the writer's ability to present ideas effectively.

For those looking to refine their summarization skills further, exploring tools designed to assist in this area can be invaluable. Try TLDRThis for summarizing ; it simplifies converting lengthy texts into concise summaries. Ultimately, embracing these techniques not only bolsters academic and professional writing but also enriches the writer's engagement with the material, paving the way for more nuanced and compelling discourse.

What distinguishes paraphrasing from summarizing?

Paraphrasing involves rewording someone else's ideas in your own language while maintaining the original level of detail. Summarizing, in contrast, condenses the most crucial points of someone else's work into a more concise format.

How does paraphrasing differ from analyzing?

While paraphrasing entails rewording a source's content or presenting certain data, analysis goes further by examining the facts and formulating personal conclusions about the topic.

Does paraphrasing include more detail than summarizing?

Yes, paraphrasing includes more detail. Although both paraphrasing and summarizing require using your own words and writing style, a paraphrase includes important details, whereas a summary distills the text down to its most essential ideas.

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Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing: Knowing the Difference

Writers who write informative or academic papers will need to understand the difference between paraphrasing vs. summarizing. Learn more in this article.

Paraphrasing and summarizing are similar writing techniques where an author takes an original passage and puts it into their own words without using the author’s exact words. Yet the goal of these two techniques is different. With one, you rephrase the content in your own words, but you pull out the main ideas and shorten the work with the other.

With both paraphrasing and summarizing, you can use someone else’s ideas in your writing to give it meaning and back up the claims you make. However, you do need to know how to use the tools to properly portray the ideas you wish to convey without falling guilty of plagiarism.

As you work on creating research papers and projects, you’re going to want to know the difference between paraphrasing vs. summarizing. This guide will help you understand how these are different, so you can use the right tool when you need it.

Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing: The Key Is in the Goal

The dangers of plagiarism, when to paraphrase, when to summarize, similarities between paraphrasing and summarizing, paraphrasing and summarizing often go hand in hand, creating a works cited or bibliography page, paraphrasing vs. summarizing: both make your writing stronger, paraphrasing vs. summarizing: key points.

What is the primary difference between summarizing and paraphrasing in your writing? The key is in the goal of your writing.

Both paraphrasing and summarizing are ways to avoid plagiarism in your writing by ensuring you are not using the original author’s exact words, but they are done for different reasons. With paraphrasing, you are rewording the original author’s work, but by summarizing, you boil down the main points into a more concise version of the original post.

In academic writing, plagiarism is a serious offense . To avoid this offense, you must include a proper citation whenever you have a quote, paraphrase, and summary statement. If the original work is not your idea or something considered common knowledge, it requires a citation.

If you are found guilty of plagiarism, you will have serious repercussions. This often means failing the assignment or even the class in academic settings. You may face expulsion, too.

If you are preparing something for publication, you risk having your work completely discredited. Your reputation as a writer is ruined. While few people go to jail for plagiarism, you could face lawsuits or fines for breaking the law.

You might also be wondering do you need quotation marks when paraphrasing?

The Definition of Paraphrasing

When you paraphrase something, you take the original material and rewrite it, changing the sentence structure or verb tense to say the same thing differently. The new sentence or paragraph will have enough differences that you cannot point out that it came from the source material.

This process is different from a direct quote. With a direct quote, you use the same wording, word for word, and put it in quotation marks. With a paraphrase, you have no wording that is the same, but instead, you use synonyms and new sentence structure to make it your own. However, the meaning of the original text stays consistent.

Paraphrased works in academic writing still require a citation using the APA or MLA format , depending on the assignment. The original idea still comes from the original author, and you can’t take that and claim it as your own without proper citation.

The best time to paraphrase is when you want to show that you can read someone else’s ideas but then put them in your own words. It shows that you understand the concepts and ideas you are writing about. You still want to credit the original author, but you don’t want to make a paper or article from quotes.

Paraphrasing shows that you understand the concepts of your sources. If you can paraphrase well, you have a clear grasp of the topic.

These paraphrasing exercises might be helpful.

The Definition of Summarizing

Summarizing is done when the original writer’s work is lengthy, and you need the main points, but not a direct quotation or full sentences that copy the meaning. For example, if you are using an entire chapter of a book as a resource for one point in a paragraph, you aren’t going to be able to include all of the ideas from the book. Instead, you will simplify those ideas into something shorter, keeping the main points intact and concisely expressing them.

Summaries, like paraphrases, do not require quotation marks. You won’t use quotation marks even if the main headings or points are repeated in your work. However, you will cite the original author and the original article or book using proper formatting.

A summary works well when you have a large chunk of text you want to pull the main ideas from in your piece. It allows you to get to the main idea of the author’s piece, only pulling out what is necessary for you to make your point. It provides background information to the reader, as well.

Summaries also work well if you need just the main points of the writer’s work instead of all of the added material. This strategy works particularly well when you need to argue a point and want to use an entire work to do so but do not have enough space to quote the source material. You might also be interested in our analogy vs. metaphor guide.

Though they are different, paraphrases and summaries have some similarities. Both allow writers to use other writers’ ideas in their pieces. They both make concepts easier to understand or help them flow in the writer’s own words and writing style. Both keep the passage’s main ideas in place even while changing the wording or shortening the piece.

In academic writing, you will often paraphrase and summarize source materials in the same work. Sometimes, the author’s ideas are already concise, so all you need to do is restate them in your writing. This is paraphrasing.

Sometimes, the author’s ideas are too lengthy for you to include in your work as they are. In these cases, simplification is necessary to flow with your work. Thus, you will summarize.

Paraphrases and summaries are also preferred over direct quotes. They allow you to show your writing skills and ability to pull ideas from someone else’s works without relying entirely on the other writer’s work.

After you finish your writing, you will need to include a list of all of the works you used to create it. This bibliography or works cited page will have formatting based on the publication manual used in the assignment. It will include all of the books, articles, and journals you used to write the essay or paper, whether you quoted, summarized, or paraphrased.

Most writing will borrow from another person’s ideas and even words, as long as the author properly cites and credits the original author. Paraphrasing and summaries are tools writers use to use the ideas of others without copying them directly effectively.

Anyone can copy and paste work from other writers to put together an informative paper or paragraph. Quotes have their place, as they can give the writing a sense of authority and provide strong evidence that the claims you make are valid. However, it takes a skilled writer to summarize or paraphrase the works of other writers.

Both summaries and paraphrases make writing stronger and show that you clearly understand the materials you used in your research. Most academic papers are a mixture of paraphrases, summaries, and quotes. All three require citations, but you will find that paraphrasing and summarizing allow you to put your flair into the writing.

Paraphrasing and summarizing both offer a way to use someone else’s idea as your own in your writing. Paraphrasing transforms the writing into your own words but keeps the same basic length and idea in writing. Summarizing condenses the writing into its main points.

Both paraphrasing and summarizing require proper citation because the idea comes from another writing. You can use your research skills to write engaging essays and papers with these tools.

If you are interested in learning more, check out our paraphrasing vs. plagiarism guide!

Nicole Harms has been writing professionally since 2006. She specializes in education content and real estate writing but enjoys a wide gamut of topics. Her goal is to connect with the reader in an engaging, but informative way. Her work has been featured on USA Today, and she ghostwrites for many high-profile companies. As a former teacher, she is passionate about both research and grammar, giving her clients the quality they demand in today's online marketing world.

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Writing > The Difference Between Summarizing & Paraphrasing

The Difference Between Summarizing & Paraphrasing

Summarizing and paraphrasing are helpful ways to include source material in your work without piling on direct quotes. Understand the differences between these approaches and when to use each.

Summarizing vs. Paraphrasing: The Biggest Differences

Though summarizing and paraphrasing are both tools for conveying information clearly and concisely, they help you achieve this in different ways. In general, the difference is rooted in the scale of the source material: To share an entire source at once, you summarize; to share a specific portion of a source (without quoting directly, of course), you paraphrase.

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What is Summarizing?

Summarizing is simplifying the content of a source to its main points in your own words. You literally sum up something, distill it down to its most essential parts. Summaries cover whole sources rather than a piece or pieces of a source and don’t include direct quotes or extraneous detail.

How to Summarize

Understand the original thoroughly. You may start by scanning the original material, paying close attention to headers and any in-text summaries, but once you’re sure that this source is something you’re going to use in your research paper , review it more thoroughly to gain appropriate understanding and comprehension.
Take notes of the main points. A bulleted list is appropriate here-note the main idea of each portion of the source material. Take note of key words or phrases around which you can build your summary list and deepen your understanding.
Build your summary. Don’t just use the list you’ve already created—this was a first draft . Craft complete sentences and logical progression from item to item. Double check the source material to ensure you’ve not left out any relevant points and trim anything extraneous. You can use a bulleted or numbered list here or write your summary as a paragraph if that’s more appropriate for your use. Make sure to follow the rules of parallelism if you choose to stay in list form.

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is rephrasing something in your own words; the word comes from the Greek para -, meaning “beside” or “closely resembling”, 1 combined with “phrase,” which we know can mean a string of words or sentences. 2 Paraphrasing isn’t practical for entire sources—just for when you want to highlight a portion of a source.

How to Paraphrase

Read actively . Take notes, highlight or underline passages, or both if you please-whatever makes it easiest for you to organize the sections of the source you want to include in your work.
Rewrite and revise. For each area you’d like to paraphrase, take the time to rewrite it in your own words. Retain the meaning of the original text, but don’t copy it too closely; take advantage of a thesaurus to ensure you’re not relying too heavily on the source material.
Check your work and revise again as needed . Did you retain the meaning of the source material? Did you simplify the language of the source material? Did you differentiate your version enough? If not, try again.

Summarizing and paraphrasing are often used in tandem; you’ll likely find it appropriate to summarize an entire source and then paraphrase specific portions to support your summary. Using either approach for including sources requires appropriate citing, though, so ensure that you follow the correct style guide for your project and cite correctly.

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Paraphrasing vs Summarizing

Summaries and paraphrases are some of your most useful tools as a writer. Referencing other people’s writing is often necessary if you want to provide evidence for your claims and imbue your essays with a greater sense of integrity. In other instances, referencing powerful ideas can simply enhance the quality of your writing. For example, using a quote in your introductory paragraph can “hook” the reader and get them interested.

You can reference other people’s writing in a number of different ways. Here are the most common options:

Each of these options has its own set of various pros and cons. If you want to become an accomplished writer, you need to understand when to paraphrase, when to summarize, and when to quote.

Whether you’re paraphrasing, summarizing, or quoting, you need to make sure to properly acknowledge where these ideas are coming from or you risk committing plagiarism. It’s perfectly acceptable to reference other people’s work, as long as you give credit where it’s due.

When you understand the differences among paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting, it becomes easier to write flowing, informative pieces that are free from plagiarism.

What is paraphrasing?

When you paraphrase someone else’s writing, you are presenting their ideas in your own words. An important part of paraphrasing is acknowledging whose ideas you are presenting and where they come from.

A paraphrased passage cannot be too similar to the source material. You can’t simply change one or two words and claim that you’re paraphrasing. Ideally, you should present these ideas in language that seems natural and easy for you and your readers to understand.

What is summarizing?

When you summarize someone else’s ideas, you are summing up their main points in a smaller piece of writing that the reader can easily understand.

Summaries are much shorter than the original material. For example, the summary of an entire book would not list every event that happens in the book. Rather, a book summary would review the most important moments in the plot and could be two or three pages long.

That being said, summaries can be even shorter than that. It’s possible to summarize an idea or a book in a single sentence.

When you summarize someone else’s work, it’s important to cover only the most important points . Just like paraphrasing or quoting, you must also attribute summarized ideas to the correct source.

What is quoting?

Quoting is when you write down the exact words of a writer and use quotation marks . You must attribute the correct speaker and source when quoting, and you must use the appropriate formatting guidelines laid out by your course or instructor.

Quoting may be preferable to other methods if you need to use clear evidence to back up your claims. By using the author’s exact words, you can show the accuracy of the evidence you’re using.

What is the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing?

The main differences between summarizing and paraphrasing come down to their functions.

A summary retells the main points, condensing an idea so that it is easier for the reader to digest. You can be selective when writing summaries, which means you don’t have to cover everything that the writer said. In addition, summaries are always shorter than the source material.

On the other hand, paraphrases serve to clarify a passage. Paraphrases are specific, which means that you need to cover each piece of information the writer is trying to convey.

In contrast to summaries, paraphrases don’t need to be shorter than the source material. While it’s true that a paraphrase might be condensed compared to the source material, it can also be longer than the source material. Alternatively, paraphrases can be roughly the same length as the source material.

How are summarizing and paraphrasing similar?

There are notable similarities between summaries and paraphrases. They both serve to make concepts easier to understand for the reader through slightly different methods. In addition, you should use both paraphrases and summaries when the core ideas of a passage are more important than the exact wording.

When should you paraphrase?

When you successfully paraphrase someone else’s ideas, you are showing the reader that you understand the key concepts. Unlike quoting, paraphrasing requires you to show what you think or understood about the idea.

You should paraphrase when you want to show that you’re capable of more than just copying and pasting. Only people who truly understand concepts can paraphrase them successfully. In other words, paraphrasing shows that you’re confident about the ideas you’re discussing.

Paraphrasing is also helpful when you’re in the middle of a speech and you can’t remember exactly what someone said. In this situation, you can’t really pause, take out a book, and look up the exact quote. Instead, you can start by saying something like, “Frederick Douglass once said something along the lines of…” and then finish by summing up the quote in your own words.

Finally, paraphrasing is a solid option when you want to reword a broader section of text into a more concise passage . You may choose to paraphrase when you encounter an idea that seems antiquated or inaccessible to the modern reader. By putting these ideas in your own words, you can make them relevant again.

When should you summarize?

Summaries are useful when you need a little more flexibility. You can spend an entire paragraph summarizing a concept or you can sum it up in a few sentences. Other summaries take the form of entire essays.

Summaries also allow you to cut right to the core concepts that the author was trying to convey . When you summarize a piece of writing, you can eliminate all the extra bits and pieces that aren’t really relevant or necessary. At the end of the day, summaries are all about condensing information so that you can refer to key points within the original passage.

Summaries are also handy when you’re providing your reader with background information on a topic. This might be especially helpful when you’re introducing a topic at the beginning of an essay.

Alternatively, you can quickly provide background information at any stage of your essay. For example, you might introduce a new piece of literature halfway through your writing, such as The Trial by Franz Kafka. At this point, you might find it necessary to sum up the plot of The Trial before moving on.

Essentially, you should use summaries when you want to condense information and cover the main points.

Summaries and paraphrases are usually preferable to direct quotes

Both summaries and paraphrases are usually preferable to direct quotes.

It’s all too easy to fill up your entire essay with quote after quote, but what purpose does that serve? Quotes only show that you’re able to copy and paste other people’s ideas, whereas summaries and paraphrases show that you actually understand these ideas enough to restructure them or condense them.

A page filled with direct quotes also becomes tiresome for the reader, especially if you become over-reliant on one source or author. When you use too many quotes, your writing tends to lose its flow, becoming jarring and difficult to follow.

Of course, quotes have their place in your writing. As previously mentioned, they allow you to provide strong evidence for your claims and give your writing a sense of authority. However, most instructors agree that quotes should be used sparingly. Think of quotes as your secret weapon, and only pull them out when you really need them.

Using paraphrases and summaries throughout your writing allows you to make use of various pieces of source material without relying too much on direct quotes. Add a mixture of quotes, paraphrases, and summaries into your writing, and you’ll see a drastic improvement in overall quality.

Remember, there is nothing wrong with borrowing other people’s ideas to strengthen the quality of your own writing. The best writers in the world don’t hesitate to paraphrase or summarize the works of other individuals, as they understand that human literature is a collaborative process.

Each new writer carries the torch a few steps further before passing their accomplishments to the next generation. There is no shame in using powerful ideas as a foundation from which to build upon.

Key takeaways

Summaries and paraphrases both serve to make source material easier to understand
You should use both summaries and paraphrases when the core ideas are more important than the exact wording
A summary is a condensed version of the source material that covers all the main points
When you paraphrase a passage, you put it in your own words and clarify its meaning
Direct quotes are useful when the exact wording is important
You can use direct quotes to provide more accurate evidence for your claims
Quotes imbue your writing with a sense of authority
You should paraphrase when you want to show that you understand the key ideas behind a passage
Paraphrasing allows you to make passages more relevant and accessible to your readers
The main purpose of a paraphrase is to clarify the text
Paraphrases can be longer, shorter, or the same length as the source passage
Summaries are always shorter than the source material
Summaries are selective whereas paraphrases are specific
Summaries allow you to eliminate unnecessary information from the source material
Summaries provide background information on a topic or idea
Both summaries and paraphrases are usually preferable to direct quotes
You should use direct quotes sparingly

Published October 29, 2020.

By Andy Block. Block has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in comparative literature. After teaching in Asia, Europe, and New York City, briefly, Andy taught writing at a community college for more than a decade — before transitioning to a new career in EdTech.

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Citation Basics / Quoting vs. Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing

Quoting vs. Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing

If you’ve ever written a research essay, you know the struggle is real. Should you use a direct quote? Should you put it in your own words? And how is summarizing different from paraphrasing—aren’t they kind of the same thing?

Knowing how you should include your source takes some finesse, and knowing when to quote directly, paraphrase, or summarize can make or break your argument. Let’s take a look at the nuances among these three ways of using an outside source in an essay.

What is quoting?

The concept of quoting is pretty straightforward. If you use quotation marks, you must use precisely the same words as the original , even if the language is vulgar or the grammar is incorrect. In fact, when scholars quote writers with bad grammar, they may correct it by using typographical notes [like this] to show readers they have made a change.

“I never like[d] peas as a child.”

Conversely, if a passage with odd or incorrect language is quoted as is, the note [sic] may be used to show that no changes were made to the original language despite any errors.

“I never like [sic] peas as a child.”

The professional world looks very seriously on quotations. You cannot change a single comma or letter without documentation when you quote a source. Not only that, but the quote must be accompanied by an attribution, commonly called a citation. A misquote or failure to cite can be considered plagiarism.

When writing an academic paper, scholars must use in-text citations in parentheses followed by a complete entry on a references page. When you quote someone using MLA format , for example, it might look like this:

“The orphan is above all a character out of place, forced to make his or her own home in the world. The novel itself grew up as a genre representing the efforts of an ordinary individual to navigate his or her way through the trials of life. The orphan is therefore an essentially novelistic character, set loose from established conventions to face a world of endless possibilities (and dangers)” (Mullan).

This quote is from www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/orphans-in-fiction , which discusses the portrayal of orphans in Victorian English literature. The citation as it would look on the references page (called Works Cited in MLA) is available at the end of this guide.

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing means taking a quote and putting it in your own words.

You translate what another writer has said into terms both you and your reader can more easily understand. Unlike summarizing, which focuses on the big picture, paraphrasing is involved with single lines or passages. Paraphrasing means you should focus only on segments of a text.

Paraphrasing is a way for you to start processing the information from your source . When you take a quote and put it into your own words, you are already working to better understand, and better explain, the information.

The more you can change the quote without changing the original meaning , the better. How can you make significant changes to a text without changing the meaning?

Here are a few paraphrasing techniques:

Use synonyms of words
Change the order of words
Change the order of clauses in the sentences
Move sentences around in a section
Active – passive
Positive – negative
Statement-question

Let’s look at an example. Here is a direct quote from the article on orphans in Victorian literature:

“It is no accident that the most famous character in recent fiction – Harry Potter – is an orphan. The child wizard’s adventures are premised on the death of his parents and the responsibilities that he must therefore assume. If we look to classic children’s fiction we find a host of orphans” (Mullan).

Here is a possible paraphrase:

It’s not a mistake that a well-known protagonist in current fiction is an orphan: Harry Potter. His quests are due to his parents dying and tasks that he is now obligated to complete. You will see that orphans are common protagonists if you look at other classic fiction (Mullan).

What differences do you spot? There are synonyms. A few words were moved around. A few clauses were moved around. But do you see that the basic structure is very similar?

This kind of paraphrase might be flagged by a plagiarism checker. Don’t paraphrase like that.

Here is a better example:

What is the most well-known fact about beloved character, Harry Potter? That he’s an orphan – “the boy who lived”. In fact, it is only because his parents died that he was thrust into his hero’s journey. Throughout classic children’s literature, you’ll find many orphans as protagonists (Mullan).

Do you see that this paraphrase has more differences? The basic information is there, but the structure is quite different.

When you paraphrase, you are making choices: of how to restructure information, of how to organize and prioritize it. These choices reflect your voice in a way a direct quote cannot, since a direct quote is, by definition, someone else’s voice.

Which is better: Quoting or paraphrasing?

Although the purpose of both quoting and paraphrasing is to introduce the ideas of an external source, they are used for different reasons. It’s not that one is better than the other, but rather that quoting suits some purposes better, while paraphrasing is more suitable for others.

A direct quote is better when you feel the writer made the point perfectly and there is no reason to change a thing. If the writer has a strong voice and you want to preserve that, use a direct quote.

For example, no one should ever try to paraphrase John. F. Kenney’s famous line: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

However, think of direct quotes like a hot pepper: go ahead and sprinkle them around to add some spice to your paper, but… you might not want to overdo it.

Conversely, paraphrasing is useful when you want to bring in a longer section of a source into your piece, but you don’t have room for the full passage . A paraphrase doesn’t simplify the passage to an extreme level, like a summary would. Rather, it condenses the section of text into something more useful for your essay. It’s also appropriate to paraphrase when there are sentences within a passage that you want to leave out.

If you were to paraphrase the section of the article about Victorian orphans mentioned earlier, you might write something like this:

Considering the development of the novel, which portrayed everyday people making their way through life, using an orphan as a protagonist was effective. Orphans are characters that, by definition, need to find their way alone. The author can let the protagonist venture out into the world where the anything, good or bad, might happen (Mullan).

You’ll notice a couple of things here. One, there are no quotation marks, but there is still an in-text citation (the name in parentheses). A paraphrase lacks quotation marks because you aren’t directly quoting, but it still needs a citation because you are using a specific segment of the text. It is still someone else’s original idea and must be cited.

Secondly, if you look at the original quote, you’ll see that five lines of text are condensed into four and a half lines. Everything the author used has been changed.

A single paragraph of text has been explained in different words—which is the heart of paraphrasing.

What is summarizing?

Next, we come to summarizing. Summarizing is on a much larger scale than quoting or paraphrasing. While similar to paraphrasing in that you use your own words, a summary’s primary focus is on translating the main idea of an entire document or long section.

Summaries are useful because they allow you to mention entire chapters or articles—or longer works—in only a few sentences. However, summaries can be longer and more in-depth. They can actually include quotes and paraphrases. Keep in mind, though, that since a summary condenses information, look for the main points. Don’t include a lot of details in a summary.

In literary analysis essays, it is useful to include one body paragraph that summarizes the work you’re writing about. It might be helpful to quote or paraphrase specific lines that contribute to the main themes of such a work. Here is an example summarizing the article on orphans in Victorian literature:

In John Mullan’s article “Orphans in Fiction” on bl.uk.com, he reviews the use of orphans as protagonists in 19 th century Victorian literature. Mullan argues that orphans, without family attachments, are effective characters that can be “unleashed to discover the world.” This discovery process often leads orphans to expose dangerous aspects of society, while maintaining their innocence. As an example, Mullan examines how many female orphans wind up as governesses, demonstrating the usefulness of a main character that is obligated to find their own way.

This summary includes the main ideas of the article, one paraphrase, and one direct quote. A ten-paragraph article is summarized into one single paragraph.

As for giving source credit, since the author’s name and title of the source are stated at the beginning of the summary paragraph, you don’t need an in-text citation.

How do I know which one to use?

The fact is that writers use these three reference types (quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing) interchangeably. The key is to pay attention to your argument development. At some points, you will want concrete, firm evidence. Quotes are perfect for this.

At other times, you will want general support for an argument, but the text that includes such support is long-winded. A paraphrase is appropriate in this case.

Finally, sometimes you may need to mention an entire book or article because it is so full of evidence to support your points. In these cases, it is wise to take a few sentences or even a full paragraph to summarize the source.

No matter which type you use, you always need to cite your source on a References or Works Cited page at the end of the document. The MLA works cited entry for the text we’ve been using today looks like this:

Mullan, John. Orphans in Fiction” www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/orphans-in-fiction. Accessed 20. Oct. 2020

————–

See our related lesson with video: How to Quote and Paraphrase Evidence

Citation Guides

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Block Quotes
Citation Examples
et al Usage
In-text Citations
Page Numbers
Reference Page
Sample Paper
APA 7 Updates
View APA Guide
Bibliography
Works Cited
MLA 8 Updates
View MLA Guide

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Summarizing vs. Paraphrasing: What’s the Real Difference?

By Joshua Turner

September 6, 2023

Summarizing and paraphrasing are two essential skills in writing. They are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct differences. Summarizing is the process of condensing a text into a shorter version, highlighting the main points, and leaving out the details.

On the other hand, paraphrasing is rewording a text in your own words, retaining the original meaning and message.

Understanding summarizing involves identifying the key ideas and concepts in a text and presenting them in a concise and clear manner. It requires a good understanding of the text and the ability to distinguish between essential and non-essential information.

Summarizing is useful when you want to provide a brief overview of a longer text or when you want to highlight the main ideas.

Understanding paraphrasing involves rewording a text in a way that retains the original meaning but uses different words and sentence structures.

It requires a good understanding of the text and the ability to express the ideas in your own words. Paraphrasing is useful when you want to avoid plagiarism or when you want to clarify the meaning of a text.

Key Takeaways

Summarizing involves condensing a text into a shorter version, highlighting the main points and leaving out the details.
Paraphrasing involves rewording a text in a way that retains the original meaning but uses different words and sentence structures.
Summarizing is useful when you want to provide a brief overview of a longer text, while paraphrasing is useful when you want to avoid plagiarism or clarify the meaning of a text.

Definition of Summarizing

Summarizing is the process of condensing a longer piece of text into a shorter, more concise version while retaining the main points and key concepts. It involves creating an overview of the text that captures the gist of the original content.

Purpose of Summaries

The purpose of summaries is to provide readers with a condensed version of a longer text that highlights the main points and key concepts. Summaries are useful for quickly understanding the content of a longer piece of writing, such as an article or book, without having to read the entire text.

Main Points in Summarizing

The main points in summarizing include identifying the key concepts and ideas in the original text, condensing the information into a shorter version, and ensuring that the summary accurately represents the main points of the original text.

Steps in Summarizing

The steps in summarizing include reading the original text carefully, identifying the main points and key concepts, condensing the information into a shorter version, and reviewing the summary to ensure that it accurately represents the main points of the original text. It is important to use your own words when creating a summary and to avoid copying phrases or sentences directly from the original text.

In summary, summarizing is the process of condensing a longer piece of text into a shorter, more concise version while retaining the main points and key concepts. It involves creating an overview of the text that captures the gist of the original content. The purpose of summaries is to provide readers with a condensed version of a longer text that highlights the main points and key concepts.

Understanding Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the act of rephrasing a text in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. It is an essential skill in academic writing , as it allows you to incorporate information from other sources while avoiding plagiarism. Paraphrasing involves interpreting the main ideas in the original text and presenting them in your own voice.

Purpose of Paraphrases

The purpose of paraphrasing is to present information from other sources in a way that is more accessible or relevant to your intended audience. It also allows you to integrate information from multiple sources into a cohesive argument. Paraphrasing can also help you to clarify complex ideas and concepts.

Main Ideas in Paraphrasing

The main ideas in paraphrasing are to understand the original text, interpret the main ideas, and rephrase them in your own words. It is important to maintain the original meaning and avoid changing the author’s intended message. Paraphrasing should also be done in your own voice to avoid plagiarism.

Steps in Paraphrasing

The steps in paraphrasing include reading and understanding the original text, identifying the main ideas, and rephrasing them in your own words. You should also check your paraphrase against the original text to ensure that you have maintained the original meaning. It is also important to cite the original source to avoid plagiarism.

Comparison of Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Summarizing and paraphrasing are two different techniques used to convey information from one source to another.

Length and Detail

Summarizing involves condensing a large amount of information into a concise version while maintaining the main points. On the other hand, paraphrasing involves rephrasing the text in your own words while retaining the original meaning. Summaries are shorter than the original text and omit details, while paraphrases are usually the same length as the original text and include more details.

Quoting and Citation

When summarizing, you don’t need to use direct quotes or citations because you are putting the information into your own words. However, when paraphrasing, you still need to give credit to the original source by using citations and quotation marks when necessary.

Structure and Concepts

Summarizing involves restructuring the original text to make it more concise, while paraphrasing involves rewording the original text. Summarizing focuses on the main points while paraphrasing focuses on the details.

When summarizing, you may need to rearrange the concepts to make them more understandable, while paraphrasing may require you to explain the concepts more clearly.

The audience and purpose of the text can influence whether summarizing or paraphrasing is appropriate. Summarizing is useful when the audience needs a quick overview of the main points, while paraphrasing is useful when the audience needs a more detailed understanding of the text. The purpose of the text can also determine whether summarizing or paraphrasing is appropriate. Summarizing is useful when the purpose is to provide a brief overview, while paraphrasing is useful when the purpose is to explain the details.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Using someone else’s work without proper credit is not only unethical, but it can also have serious consequences. By understanding plagiarism, citing your source material, and using a plagiarism checker, you can ensure that your work is original and free of plagiarism.

Understanding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s work without giving them proper credit. It can be intentional or unintentional, and it can have serious consequences. To avoid plagiarism, understand what it is and how to avoid it.

Citing Source Material

Citing your source material is an essential part of avoiding plagiarism. When you use someone else’s work, you must give them credit by citing the original source. There are different citation styles, such as APA, MLA, and Chicago, so make sure to use the appropriate one for your work.

Using a Plagiarism Checker

Using a plagiarism checker is a great way to ensure that your work is original and free of plagiarism. There are many free and paid tools available online that can help you check your work for plagiarism. These tools compare your work to other sources on the internet and highlight any similarities.

In summary, while summarizing and paraphrasing are similar in that they both involve condensing or rewording information, there are some key differences between them. Summarizing involves reducing a text to its essential points, while paraphrasing involves restating the central idea in your own words.

Accuracy is crucial in both cases, but it is especially important when paraphrasing since it involves conveying information in a new way. Paraphrasing is useful when you want to highlight specific insights or takeaways from a text while summarizing is better suited for providing an overview of the essential information.

When deciding whether to summarize or paraphrase, it’s important to consider the function of the text and the audience you are writing for. Summarizing is useful when you want to provide a quick overview of a text’s most relevant information, while paraphrasing is better suited for conveying the central idea in a new way.

Overall, whether you choose to summarize or paraphrase, the goal is to convey relevant information in a clear and concise manner that helps the reader gain insights and takeaways from the text.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some common questions about this topic.

What are some examples of paraphrasing and summarizing, and how do they differ?

Paraphrasing involves restating a passage in your own words while summarizing involves condensing a larger text into a shorter version. For example, paraphrasing a quote in an essay would involve rephrasing it in a way that still conveys the original meaning, while summarizing a news article would involve highlighting the main points in a few sentences.

What are the similarities and differences between summarizing and paraphrasing?

Both summarizing and paraphrasing involve rephrasing information in your own words. However, summarizing involves condensing a larger text into a shorter version, while paraphrasing involves restating a passage in your own words. Both techniques are useful for avoiding plagiarism and presenting information in a clear and concise way.

How do you paraphrase a quote in an essay?

To paraphrase a quote in an essay, you should rephrase the quote in your own words while still maintaining its original meaning. This involves understanding the main idea of the quote and expressing it in a way that fits with the rest of your essay. It is important to properly cite the original source of the quote to avoid plagiarism.

When using a source, should you quote, paraphrase, or summarize it?

The choice between quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing a source depends on the purpose of your writing. If you want to include a specific passage word-for-word, you should quote it. If you want to restate a passage in your own words, you should paraphrase it. If you want to condense a larger text into a shorter version, you should summarize it.

What is the definition of summarizing?

Summarizing is the act of condensing a larger text into a shorter version that highlights the main points of the original. This technique is useful for presenting information in a clear and concise way and can be applied to a variety of texts, such as news articles, research papers, and books.

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In academic writing and everyday communication, effectively conveying information is crucial. Two common techniques for rephrasing original content are paraphrasing and summarizing. While they share the goal of reinterpreting source material, their approaches and purposes differ significantly. This article delves into the nuances of paraphrasing and summarizing, providing clarity on when and how to use each method.

What is a Paraphrase?

Paraphrasing is a technique used to restate a specific passage or concept from a source in a new way while preserving the original meaning. The primary objective of paraphrasing is to make the original content clearer or easier to understand, without changing its underlying message. A successful paraphrase maintains the same length as the original text but employs different vocabulary and sentence structures to express the same idea. This approach ensures that the essence of the original text is communicated effectively, while also demonstrating the writer’s understanding of the material.

For instance, let’s look at a passage from George Orwell’s novel “1984”:

Original : “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.”

Paraphrase : “On a chilly April day, the clocks struck thirteen as Winston Smith hurried into Victory Mansions to escape the biting wind. Dust swirled around him as he entered through the glass doors, trying to shield his chin from the cold.”

In this paraphrase, the overall structure and length of the original passage are more or less maintained, but different word choices and sentence constructions are used to convey the same scene and actions. This rephrasing allows for a fresh perspective on the text while keeping the original context and meaning intact.

What is a Summary?

A summary is a concise representation of a source’s main ideas, distilling its essential points into a brief and accessible format. Unlike a paraphrase, which maintains the original length and detail, a summary is significantly shorter, stripping away extraneous information to focus solely on the core concepts. The structure of a summary typically involves an introduction to the main theme, followed by a streamlined account of the key arguments or events, and concluding with the overarching conclusion or outcome. Summaries are invaluable for providing a quick snapshot of a text, enabling readers to grasp the primary message without engaging with the full details.

For instance, a summary of George Orwell’s novel “1984” might read:

“In George Orwell’s ‘1984,’ the protagonist Winston Smith navigates life in a totalitarian regime where Big Brother controls every aspect of existence, and independent thought is suppressed. The novel explores themes of surveillance, government control, and the erosion of individual freedom. Winston’s struggle against the oppressive government and his doomed romance with Julia highlights the human spirit’s resilience and the dangers of unchecked authority. Ultimately, ‘1984’ serves as a cautionary tale about the potential consequences of totalitarianism and the loss of personal liberties.”

This summary represents the central narrative and themes of “1984” without going deep into the specific plot details or character development found in the full novel.

Contrast & Compare: Paraphrase vs Summary

To deepen our understanding of the distinctions between paraphrasing and summarizing, let us examine another excerpt from George Orwell’s “1984”:

Original : “In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy.”

Paraphrase : “Ultimately, the Party would declare that two plus two equals five, and acceptance of this claim would be mandatory. Such an assertion was bound to emerge at some point, as it was a necessary conclusion of their ideology. Their doctrine implied a rejection not just of the significance of personal experience but also of the concept that an external world exists at all.”

Summary : “The Party’s ideology leads to the denial of objective reality, eventually claiming that two plus two equals five, a belief that citizens must accept.”

In this comparison, the paraphrase retains the original passage’s complexity and length , merely altering the phrasing and sentence structure to convey the same ideas with new words. This method allows for a detailed restatement of the original text, preserving its full meaning without directly copying it.

On the other hand, the summary compresses the passage’s key ideas into a concise statement , significantly reducing the length and removing all but the most crucial points. This approach aims to give readers a quick understanding of the primary message without the nuanced detail provided in the original text or the paraphrase.

We presented these examples to illustrate that while a paraphrase is an alternate expression of the same detail and length as the original text, a summary distills the text’s essence into a more compact form. This distinction is essential for effective communication, as it allows the writer to choose the most appropriate method for their purpose—whether to explore an idea in detail or to present a brief overview.

Here are the key points of our comparison, so you can understand and memorize the differences more easily

When to Summarize and When to Paraphrase

Deciding whether to summarize or paraphrase depends on the context and objectives of your writing.

Summarizing is particularly useful when dealing with extensive material, and you aim to present the core ideas concisely. For instance, in a literature review, you might summarize various research studies to highlight the overall trends and conclusions without going into the methodology or detailed results of each study. Similarly, in an executive summary, you would distill the key points of a lengthy report or proposal to give decision-makers a quick understanding of the document’s content and significance.

On the other hand, paraphrasing is the better choice when you need to maintain the level of detail in a specific piece of text but present it in a clearer or more relatable way. In a research paper, you might paraphrase a complex theoretical concept to make it more understandable for your audience, while preserving the intricacies of the original idea. Paraphrasing is also useful in analysis, where you need to discuss specific passages of a text in depth, rephrasing them to fit the flow of your argument without oversimplifying or omitting important details.

In short, choose to summarize when you need to condense broad topics into their essential points and opt for paraphrasing when you need to restate detailed information more clearly or differently.

Both paraphrasing and summarizing are essential tools in effective communication and writing. Understanding their differences and appropriate applications can enhance your ability to convey information accurately and concisely. While paraphrasing focuses on rewording without losing detail, summarizing aims to capture the essence of the content in a brief form. Choosing the right technique depends on your purpose and the needs of your audience.

When should I use paraphrasing over summarizing?

You should use paraphrasing over summarizing when you need to restate a specific passage or idea in your own words while retaining the same level of detail. Paraphrasing is suitable when you want to clarify, simplify, or integrate a particular point into your writing without altering its meaning. It’s often used in research papers, critical analyses, or when explaining complex concepts.

How do I effectively paraphrase a text?

To effectively paraphrase a text, follow these steps:

Read and Understand: Read the original text thoroughly until you fully grasp its meaning.
Restate in Your Own Words: Rewrite the passage using your vocabulary and sentence structure, avoiding any direct copying of phrases or terms.
Compare with the Original: Check your paraphrase against the original text to ensure you’ve accurately conveyed the same meaning.
Cite the Source: Even though you’ve paraphrased, it’s essential to attribute the ideas to the original author through proper citation.

What are the benefits of summarizing?

Summarizing offers several benefits. First, it allows you to condense lengthy texts into a brief overview, highlighting only the main points. Second, summarizing helps clarify complex or dense material by focusing on the core ideas. It also allows you to incorporate multiple sources or perspectives into a cohesive summary, which is particularly useful in literature reviews or overview sections. Finally, summaries can serve as a quick reference or memory aid for recalling the key points of a text.

Can I combine paraphrasing and summarizing in my writing?

Yes, you can combine paraphrasing and summarizing in your writing. This approach is often useful when dealing with a large body of text or complex ideas. You might summarize the overall argument or main points of a text and then use paraphrasing to delve into specific details or examples that support your analysis or argument. This combination allows you to present a comprehensive understanding of the source material while maintaining clarity and coherence in your writing.

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2.7: Summarizing and Paraphrasing

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Lumen Learning

Learning Objectives

Summarize a passage of reading
Paraphrase a passage of reading

Have you ever heard, “the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else”?

Writing a summary of a source is a very similar process to teaching someone the content—but in this case, the student you’re teaching is yourself.

Summarizing , or condensing someone else’s ideas and putting it into your own shortened form, allows you to be sure that you’ve accurately captured the main idea of the text you’re reading. When reading, summarizing is helpful for checking your understanding of a longer text and remembering the author’s main ideas. When writing, summarizing is critical when reviewing, writing an abstract, preparing notes for a study guide, creating an annotated bibliography, answering essay questions, recording results of an experiment, describing the plot of a fictional work or film, or writing a research paper.

How to Write Summary Statements

Use these processes to help you write summary statements:

Underline important information and write keywords in the margin.
Record ideas using a two-column note-taking system. Record questions you have about the text concepts in the left column and answers you find in the reading in the right column.
Identify how concepts relate to what you already know.
Add examples and details

For retaining key ideas as you read, write a summary statement at the end of each paragraph or section. For capturing the major ideas of the entire work, write a summary paragraph (or more) that describes the entire text.

Tips for Summary

For longer, overall summary projects that capture an entire reading, consider these guidelines for writing a summary:

A summary should contain the main thesis or standpoint of the text, restated in your own words. (To do this, first find the thesis statement in the original text.)
A summary is written in your own words. It contains few or no quotes.
A summary is always shorter than the original text, often about 1/3 as long as the original. It is the ultimate fat-free writing. An article or paper may be summarized in a few sentences or a couple of paragraphs. A book may be summarized in an article or a short paper. A very large book may be summarized in a smaller book.
A summary should contain all the major points of the original text , and should ignore most of the fine details, examples, illustrations or explanations.
The backbone of any summary is formed by crucial details (key names, dates, events, words and numbers). A summary must never rely on vague generalities.
If you quote anything from the original text, even an unusual word or a catchy phrase, you need to put whatever you quote in quotation marks (” “).
A summary must contain only the ideas of the original text. Do not insert any of your own opinions, interpretations, deductions or comments into a summary.

Watch this video to see a walk-through explanation on how to summarize.

You can view the transcript for “Summarizing” here (opens in new window).

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/20213

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the act of putting an author’s ideas into your own words. When reading, paraphrasing is helpful for checking your understanding of what you read as well as remembering what you read. When writing, paraphrasing is an important skill to have when constructing a research paper and incorporating the ideas of others alongside your own.

Click to view the transcript for “Paraphrasing” here (opens in new window) .

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/20214

paraphrasing : rewriting a passage of text in your own words

summarizing : condensing someone else’s ideas and putting it into your own shortened form

Contributors and Attributions

Modification, adaptation, and original content. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
PQRST Script. Provided by : Lethbridge College. Located at : www.lethbridgecollege.net/elearningcafe/index.php/pqrst-script. Project : eLearning Cafe. License : CC BY: Attribution
Summarizing. Provided by : Excelsior College. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/orc/what-to-do-after-reading/summarizing/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
Why Use Quotes?. Authored by : The News Manual. Provided by : Media Helping Media. Located at : www.mediahelpingmedia.org/training-resources/journalism-basics/659-how-to-use-quotes-in-news-stories-and-features. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
How to Write an A-plus Summary of a Text. Authored by : Owen M. Williamson. Provided by : The University of Texas at El Paso. Located at : http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl0310/summaryhints.htm . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to:

Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
Give examples of several points of view on a subject
Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original
Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own
Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following example:

In his famous and influential work The Interpretation of Dreams , Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream-work" (page #). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #).

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

Practice summarizing the essay found here , using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow these steps:

Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.
Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.
Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so. You'll find guidelines for citing sources and punctuating citations at our documentation guide pages.

Key Differences

Know the Differences & Comparisons

Difference Between Summary and Paraphrase

On the other hand, paraphrase means the restatement of the passage, in explicit language, so as to clarify its hidden meaning, without condensing it. In paraphrasing, the written material, idea or statement of some other person is presented in your own words, which is easy to understand.

These two are used in an excerpt to include the ideas of other author’s but without the use of quotations. Let us talk about the difference between summary and paraphrase.

Content: Summary Vs Paraphrase

Comparison chart, definition of summary.

A summary is an abridged form of a passage, which incorporates all the main or say relevant points of the original text while keeping the meaning and essence intact. It is used to give an overview of the excerpt in brief, to the reader. In summary, the author’s ideas are presented in your own words and sentences, in a succinct manner.

A summary encapsulates the gist and the entire concept of the author’s material in a shorter fashion. It also indicates the source of the information, using citation. Basically the length of the summary depends on the material being condensed.

It encompasses the main idea of every paragraph and the facts supporting that idea. It does not end with a conclusion, however, if there is a message in the conclusion, it is included in the summary. It also uses the keywords from the original material, but it does not use the same phrases or sentences.

Summaries save a lot of time of the reader, as the reader need not go through the entire work to filter the most important information contained in it, rather the reader gets the most relevant information in hand.

Definition of Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is not a reproduction of a similar copy of another author’s work, rather it means to rewrite the excerpt in your own language, using comprehensible words and restructuring the sentences, but without changing the context. Hence, in paraphrasing, the original idea and meaning of the text are maintained, but the sentence structure and the words used to deliver the message would be different.

The paraphrased version of the text is simple and easily understandable. The length is almost similar to the original text, as it only translates the original text into simplest form. It is not about the conversion of the text in a detailed manner, rather it is presented in such a way that goes well with your expression.

In paraphrasing, someone else’s written material is restated or rephrased in your own language, containing the same degree of detail. It is the retelling of the concept, using a different tone to address a different audience.

Key Differences Between Summary and Paraphrase

The points discussed below, explains the difference between summary and paraphrase

To summarize means to put down the main ideas of the essential points of the excerpt, in your own words, while keeping its essence intact. On the contrary, to paraphrase means to decode the original text in your own words without distorting its meaning or essence.
A summary is all about emphasizing the central idea (essence) and the main points of the text. In contrast, paraphrasing is done to simplify and clarify the meaning of the given excerpt, so as to enhance its comprehension.
If we talk about the length of the summary in comparison to the original text, it is shorter, because summary tends to highlight the main points only and excludes the irrelevant material of the text. As against, in case of paraphrasing, the length is almost equal to the original text, because its aim is to decipher, i.e. to convert the complex text in a language which is easily understandable without excluding any material from the text.
The main objective of summarizing is to compile and present the gist of the author’s idea or concept in a few sentences or points. Conversely, the primary objective of paraphrasing is to clarify the meaning of author’s work in a clear and effective manner when the words used by him/her are not important or the words are too complex to understand.
A summary is used when you want to give a quick overview of the main ideas to the reader about the topic. On the contrary, Paraphrase is used when the idea or main point is more significant than the actual words used in the material and also when you want to use your own voice to explain the concept or idea.
A summary does not include lengthy explanations, examples and what the reader has understood. In contrast, a paraphrase does not include the exact same wordings or paragraphs used in the original source, so as to avoid plagiarism.

Steps for Summarizing

First of all, you need to read the entire passage twice or thrice to grasp the meaning and essence of the material.
Identify and underline all the important points, ideas and supporting facts which you have read.
Now, explain the material to yourself, for better understanding.
Rewrite in your own words, the salient points and central idea from the original text, in a few sentences.
Omit unnecessary detailing and examples.
Make a comparison of the original text and the summary which you’ve created.

Steps for Paraphrasing

Read the entire text carefully, twice or thrice, to absorb the meaning and essence.
Rewrite the author’s ideas in a unique language, i.e. in your own voice. Make sure that the sentences and words used are your own and it should not be a mere substitution or swapping of words and phrases.
Further, the sequence in which idea is presented, need not be different from the original source.
Compare the paraphrased version with the main text, and ensure that the essence clearly presented, as well as make sure that it is free from plagiarism.
Check that the words and phrases which are directly taken from the text are within quotation marks.
Provide references.

In a nutshell, a summary is nothing but a shorter version of an excerpt or passage. On the contrary, a paraphrase is the restatement of the original text or excerpt. One can use any of the two sources, as per the requirement, when the idea of any of the sources is relevant to your material, but the wording is not that important.

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Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting: What’s the Difference?

Paraphrasing, Summarizing and Quoting Paraphrasing is when you take someone else’s ideas or words and rephrase them as your own . Summarizing is to give the reader an overview of the key points of a text . Quoting is when you write exactly what someone else has said, word for word .

Anyone who has written a paper, especially an academic paper, has struggled to answer the question: what is the difference between paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting, and which one should I do? Do I need to use all three? Do I need to provide a citation?

Every writer needs to know how to distinguish these three tasks to write well and avoid committing plagiarism, whether accidental or intentional. Let’s take a look at the differences between paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting so that your writing will be polished and professional every time.

Table of Content:

What is quoting, what is paraphrasing, what is summarizing, don’t commit accidental plagiarism.

Quoting is when you write exactly what someone else has said, word for word. Even if the original text contains punctuation , grammatical , or spelling errors , if you are quoting, you must include these errors!

A quote is indicated using double quotation marks, and the author and source should be cite d in either the text directly or in a footnote depending upon the citation format you are following .

There are two ways to handle a quote with incorrect spelling or grammar. The first is by correcting it using square brackets like so.

Guinea pig[s] make wonderful pets for small children.

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The second is to write the Latin word sic in square brackets after the error to indicate that the error is in the original text. Sic is usually italicized. For example:

Guinea pig [ sic ] make wonderful pets for small children.

Quotes are great to use in academic writing when you want to discuss a particular author’s idea or phrasing. However, quotes should be used sparingly, and should be on the shorter side (less than a paragraph) in order to maximize the space for your own analysis and ideas. Think of quotes like salt- they add essential flavor to a dish, but should not be the main ingredient.

Unlike a quote, paraphrasing is when you take someone else’s ideas or words and rephrase them as your own. Paraphrasing is a vital skill for any writer, as much of academic writing is synthesizing information from different sources in your own words and adding your thoughts.

Many people who try to paraphrase accidentally end up committing plagiarism. Why? There are two reasons. The first reason is that people often just change a couple of words in the original writing and call it a paraphrase.

The second reason is that people fail to add the proper citation after paraphrasing. In fact, paraphrases should include the source just like a quote.

So how can you paraphrase properly? In addition to changing the specific words used, a good paraphrase changes the structure and even order of the original phrasing . Let’s take a brief example.

Original text: The pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine have stifled supply of commodities and goods and upended efficient distribution through global supply chains, forcing up prices of everyday goods such as fuel and food.

But, while higher prices will cause pain for households, growth in many parts of the world, while slow, is still ticking over and job markets have not collapsed (CNBC, May 30, 2022).

Paraphrase 1: The war in Ukraine and the pandemic have blocked the supply of commodities and goods and overturned efficient distribution through global supply chains, increasing prices of everyday goods such as fuel and food.

While higher prices will cause pain for households, growth in many parts of the world is still happening and job markets have not collapsed.

This paraphrase changes a few words around, but it is easy to see the resemblance to the original text. It is also missing a citation. This paraphrase is likely to be flagged by a plagiarism checker.

Paraphrase 2: The supply of goods and commodities has faltered due to the war in Ukraine and the pandemic as global supply chains struggle to maintain efficient distribution. This has resulted in higher prices of everyday goods like fuel and food.

Despite these difficulties, the majority of economies continue to see growth, albeit slow growth, and job markets remain solid. Households can expect short term pain from higher prices, but it seems unlikely that collapse is on the horizon (CNBC, May 30, 2022).

This paraphrase breaks up longer sentences into shorter ones, adding some of the author’s own commentary towards the end and artfully rephrasing the original ideas. A proper in-text citation is included. The second paraphrase is acceptable.

Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing, but there are a few key differences. First, the purpose of summarizing is to give the reader an overview of the key points of a text. A paraphrase re-words information from the original text, but it does not remove any of the original ideas.

Because of this difference, summarizing deletes sections, sometimes large sections, of the original text to leave only the most critical concepts and ideas. Paraphrasing is usually around the same length as the original writing, while summarizing is much shorter than the original.

Second, summarizing can include a quote or a paraphrase from the original text. However, a paraphrase will never contain additional paraphrasing. It may contain a quote, but only in rare circumstances.

If you use a quote in your summary, don’t forget to still cite the source. This can be as simple as mentioning the author’s name and then citing it in the references section. We could summarize the above text as follows:

CNBC notes that while events including the pandemic and war in Ukraine are upending the global supply chain leading to short-term fiscal pain for households, the global economy remains in a steady, if slow, state of growth overall.

Knowing the difference between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing is the key to avoiding accidental plagiarism. Forgetting to properly indicate a quote with quotation marks, paraphrasing incorrectly by just changing a few words, or summarizing without giving proper credit are all ways that authors can commit accidental plagiarism.

Fortunately, in addition to learning about the important differences between these three writing techniques, students, academics, and writers of all kinds can take advantage of AI writing tools as well. Tools like Trinka can help academic writers especially ensure that their writing is clear, accurate, and uses technical terminology properly.

It also reviews your references to make sure they are accurate. Enago’s plagiarism checker is another great tool to ensure that you haven’t failed to clearly paraphrase or forgotten to indicate a quote.

As you progress in your writing career, these tools can make your life easier and prevent you from making any critical errors. Give them a try today.

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Summarizing vs Paraphrasing: What is the Difference Between?

Paraphrasing and summarizing both deal with rewriting a piece of content. However, these two are not the same, in fact, there are quite a several differences.

Whether you are a student who writes academic papers or a professional writer who writes informative pieces of content, having a clear understanding of the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing is important.

I have prepared this blog to highlight the key points of summarizing vs paraphrasing so you can form a clear concept of these 2 forms of writing.

Top tips to ace summarizing

Top tips to ace paraphrasing.

Content Production Time

What is Summarizing?

Summarizing is the practice of restating a piece of content (whether a few sentences or a few paragraphs) into shorter forms which gives you the main ideas in a concise way. A summary, though short in length, must contain the key points of that content so users can understand the main ideas of the write-up.

When you should summarize:

Summarizing can be useful in order to :

Give a succinct introduction to a subject.
Communicate the essence of a long or complicated material in a succinct, effective, and easy-to-understand manner.
Highlight the key points in any document, speech, or presentation.
Make a convenient resource for future use.
Shorten the time required to read something

What advantages does summarizing have?

Summarizing is a popular practice for many reasons. With the aid of a summary,

You can quickly and simply get the gist of a book without losing context.
Pinpoint key ideas.
Provide pertinent information.
Identify any knowledge gaps.

Here are some suggestions to help you make the most of the process when you’re ready to summarize:

Read the text several times to make sure you comprehend it.
Think of the big picture and main ideas
Group the main concepts together by looking for links between them. Remove extraneous information.
Make an outline and arrange the data in a sensible sequence.
Save time by merely summarizing what needs to be spoken.
Check the summary’s accuracy, brevity, and clarity.

What is Paraphrasing?

Rewriting or paraphrasing a text in your own words while preserving the original meaning and message is known as paraphrasing. Paraphrasing aims to provide original content that conveys the main ideas of the original text.

When you should paraphrase:

It’s helpful to paraphrase when you need to:

Cite and use details from a different source.
Clarify a lengthy, intricate, or challenging passage
Your article might use some flare or be presented in a more interesting way.
Specifically state or present a different angle on a subject that has already been said
Want to increase the content’s quality

What advantages can paraphrase offer?

By paraphrasing you can elevate your content as you can:

have a better grasp of the source material
explain the original text’s meaning to others
come up with new ideas on how to approach the subject
develop your writing style,
and of course, avoid plagiarism.

It’s crucial to paraphrase in a manner that is distinct from the source text while still being illustrative and truthful. Here are some pointers to help you begin paraphrasing correctly:

Read the source material carefully, then
Write in your own words before editing for impact.
Add your own interpretation and thoughts to the material.
Employ a plagiarism detector

Summarizing vs Paraphrasing: A Quick Overview

What are the differences between summarizing vs paraphrasing.

Although they are sometimes used interchangeably, summarizing and paraphrasing are two independent writing processes with separate purposes.

Let’s examine the primary distinctions between summarizing vs paraphrasing:

Meaning and Definition

Simply put, summarizing is “condensing,” while paraphrasing is “rewriting.” The goal of paraphrasing is to rephrase the original text in a distinctive manner without distorting the original text’s meaning.

Summarizing, on the other hand, conveys the key concepts from a written work in a condensed and clear manner.

Additional Details

While paraphrasing, you should feel free to add your own thoughts, views, examples, perspectives, and key points to the finished product.

Only the essential information should be included in a summary, with little interpretation or personal opinion.

difference of lenth summarizing vs paraphrasing

Length is a vital difference between summarizing and paraphrasing. A paraphrase doesn’t have to be a certain length. It may be slightly shorter, similar in length, or slightly longer than the original text (if you offer insights and instances).

A summary, on the other hand, is a condensed version of the original material and is much shorter than it.

benefits advantage of paraphrasing vs summarizing

The development of critical thinking skills, deeper comprehension of a subject, and perspective-taking are all aided by paraphrasing.

Summarizing is seen to be a more effective technique to convey the main idea of the text to the audience.

Content Production Time

product time summarizing vs paraphrasing

Last but not least difference between paraphrasing and summarizing is the producing time. Summarizing can be done more quickly than paraphrasing because the writer only needs to concentrate on the most important details.

Frequently Asked Questions

One common thing about summarizing and paraphrasing is in both practices one uses someone else’s write-up to represent it in their own way.

Summarizing is often better than paraphrasing because it condenses the main ideas and key points of a text, providing a concise overview of the content. Summarizing retains the core information while reducing redundancy and making the content more accessible and easier to understand.

Paraphrasing should be used when you want to rephrase a specific passage or sentence in your own words while retaining the original meaning. It’s helpful for avoiding plagiarism, clarifying complex ideas, and incorporating quotes smoothly into your writing.

Final words on paraphrasing vs summarizing

The difference between summarizing and paraphrasing lies in the length and information that’s included in each. I hope you have a clearer idea about summarizing vs paraphrasing. Whatever might the difference be, if you deal with content you will need to use both forms.

If you are looking for an efficient way to generate both paraphrasing and summarizing, you can get help from the AI-based content writer GetGenie . This WordPress AI plugin offers outstanding summarizing and paraphrasing templates that produce results within moments.

Differences in a Paraphrase, Summary, and Précis

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Look up “paraphrase,” “summary,” and “précis” in the dictionary, and you’re going to find a lot of overlapping ideas, but the uses of these terms (especially in academic writing) have quite well-defined boundaries.

All these terms deal with the idea that you’re reading something someone else wrote and then putting it in different terms while maintaining the meaning. But these similarities come to an end when you consider the different purposes for these tasks.

Let’s Start with the Paraphrase

A paraphrase is specifically different from a quote. To qualify, it must relay all the same information but in different words.

Not seeing how this is different from the others? Think about the purpose. A paraphrase reveals that you know what is being said and can rephrase it in words of your own choosing. You are proving you “get it.”

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A paraphrase thus has no space limits. Indeed, a paraphrase might be much longer than the original text. One paraphrase of, “To be, or not to be / That is the question,” is: “I am asking myself whether I should decide to go on living, or kill myself, and this may be ‘the question’ in terms of all existence. Should humanity bother to keep on going or just snuff it?”

A paraphrase may also be much shorter. One paraphrase of:

Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapped power,

would be: “Hey, let’s have sex before we get all old and stuff.”

Of course, that second paraphrase might not get you a good grade in English Lit.

A Summary Is a Whole Different Deal

A summary is generally understood to be of something long enough to benefit from a summary. There’s no real summary for, “I am going to the store.” (A paraphrase would be, “The speaker is traveling to the shop.”) A summary is understood to be smaller than the original and may use some of the same words.

A summary also does not have to be complete. A summary of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech can just be, “White and Black people should try to get along better.” A paraphrase of the speech would have to cover all the bases.

A summary’s purpose is not to interpret meaning so much as to relay information, so the pressure is off to make sure the words are different. We might even throw in a quote or two. Think of summarizing a movie you just saw for a friend. You might do a line of dialogue like, “To the pain!” or “Excuse me while I whip this out.”

A Précis Is for You

“Précis” is just an academic term for “summary,” and you might never be assigned to do one, but it’s a handy thing. The purpose here is to remind yourself of what the original said.

Let’s say you’re reading a bunch of books and articles that might be important for a test, and you decide just taking a few notes isn’t enough. You can write a précis with the idea that you’ll read it again later to refresh your memory. A précis might then include details about the article beyond the text, such as that this is the first time a certain procedure was successful or that this approach to writing code was useful for a while but is now obsolete.

If you do a precise for the primary sources for your discipline, you’ll have that as a resource not only for tests, but also for papers you might want to write: sort of your own version of CliffsNotes (Coles Notes for you Canadians, York Notes for you Brits). Because you do them yourself, they are geared toward your interests and your style of thinking.

So, while the main idea is the same, the different purposes of these ways of summing things up require different skills. (Note that that final line there is a summary for the purpose of a conclusion. Ain’t I a tricky one?)

Julia H. (except for the poem, which is Andrew M.)

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Screen Rant

5 ways guy ritchie's the gentleman movie is better than the show (& 5 ways the show is better).

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The Gentlemen Season 2: Will It Happen? Everything We Know

The gentlemen rotten tomatoes score is in — how does guy ritchie's spinoff series compare to the original movie, netflix's the gentlemen makes us want 1 other guy ritchie show.

The Gentlemen TV series features a new twist on Guy Ritchie's gangster movie.
The movie boasts star power with Hugh Grant and Matthew McConaughey, but the TV show shines with Kaya Scodelario's strong performance.
The movie excels in action scenes and narrative complexity, while the TV show adds depth to the supporting characters.

Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen is a TV adaptation of his own gangster movie from 2019, but it takes a slightly different approach. It isn't a direct adaptation, despite some similarities between The Gentlemen and the original movie . It's an interesting hybrid of a remake and a completely new story. It's still about English aristocrats using their land to farm marijuana, but there are many differences.

Directly comparing the Netflix show to the movie isn't an exact science, because each version has different aims and different conventions of the medium. However, the movie and the show have enough in common that it's interesting to see how they stack up when compared to one another. Guy Ritchie originally intended for The Gentlemen to be a TV show, not a movie, so his choices in adapting his own work reveal a lot about what his original vision was.

The TV show and the movie version of The Gentlemen are available to stream on Netflix in the US.

10 The Movie Has A Great Ensemble Cast

The tv show can't compete with the movie's star power.

Guy Ritchie's gangster movies often juggle several big personalities, and this requires actors with great comedic timing and inherent charm.

While the Netflix series has a great cast, the movie's budget gives it access to a higher class of talent , including Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant. The cast of The Gentlemen is important in keeping the audience engaged as the plot switches quickly between different characters and timelines. Some actors don't have a lot of screen time, but they manage to keep things moving at a nice pace.

Hugh Grant plays against type as a scheming, immoral journalist. His performance is a big gamble, but he has the charisma to pull it off with ease. Jeremy Strong and Colin Farrell are also playing outlandish, larger-than-life characters, and they make it work despite other actors playing it straight in a more traditional style for a crime drama. Guy Ritchie's gangster movies often juggle several big personalities, and this requires actors with great comedic timing and inherent charm.

The Gentlemen Show Cast Guide

Despite being set in the same universe as the original Guy Ritchie film, Netflix's The Gentlemen features an entirely new roster of cast & characters.

9 Kaya Scodelario Gives The TV Show A New Edge

The movie doesn't have a female character as strong as susie glass.

Scodelario is excellent as a no-nonsense operator who puts out fires wherever they start.

The outstanding performer in the cast of the TV version of The Gentlemen is undoubtedly Kaya Scodelario, who plays Susie Glass. Susie is the de facto leader of the Glass family business while her father is in prison, and she guides Eddie into the drug trade, while trying to maintain her grip on power. Scodelario is excellent as a no-nonsense operator who puts out fires wherever they start.

Susie Glass is the female lead in The Gentlemen , and she's a much more compelling character than the movie's equivalent. Michelle Dockery plays Rosalind in the movie, Mickey's wife and business partner. She does a good job with what she's given, but her character isn't as dynamic or compelling as most of the male characters. Ritchie's gangster movies have frequently been criticized for their hollow female roles , so Scodelario's part in the Netflix series is a big improvement.

8 The Movie Has More Exciting Action

Guy ritchie lets his signature style shine through.

Neither the movie nor the TV show truly belong in the action genre, but there are moments when the tension erupts into chaos, and the movie has a little more fun with these moments.

One of the things that a bigger budget can buy is more exciting action set pieces, and this is something Guy Ritchie knows how to do very well. His action sequences in The Gentlemen can be very humorous, but they're also genuinely unpredictable. The most memorable one of all is the fight scene on Mickey's farm with the Toddlers , which is filmed like a music video and a snuff movie rolled into one.

The Netflix series also has a few great action scenes, such as when Eddie has to chase Jethro through the woods, or when he fights someone waiting in Jethro's home, but the movie's action is a cut above. Neither the movie nor the TV show truly belong in the action genre, but there are moments when the tension erupts into chaos, and the movie has a little more fun with these moments.

7 The TV Show Gives More Depth To The Supporting Characters

The show has more time to divide its focus.

Each criminal faction and each member of Susie's operation gets enough time to develop into more than an archetype.

Although the movie features a great ensemble cast of characters, it doesn't have enough time to explore many of them in depth. Mickey, Raymond, Fletcher and Dry Eye get some detail, but there are many characters which only appear briefly. Lord George, Phuc, Rosalind, Big Dave and Laura Pressfield are just some of the characters who only exist to serve their function in their plot, but they aren't particularly interesting or deep.

The TV series has just as many characters, but the key difference is that it has enough time to develop more of them in depth. Each criminal faction and each member of Susie's operation gets enough time to develop into more than an archetype, even if that is their starting point. This makes the payoff much more satisfying when these various different characters bounce off each other in unexpected ways.

Guy Ritchie's spinoff series The Gentlemen premiered on Netflix in March 2024, but will the tongue-in-cheek crime drama have a second season?

6 The Movie Has A More Satisfying Ending

The netflix series could set up a second season.

There's some interesting political maneuvering in the season finale of The Gentlemen, but it still feels like an anticlimax after the show teases a big shootout at Halstead Manor.

Like with Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, part of the joy of watching a Guy Ritchie gangster movie is seeing all the threads come together in the end . The Gentlemen is no different, as Raymond and Mickey overcome Dry Eye, Matthew and Fletcher all at once. Suddenly, the complex narrative is crystallized succinctly, like the moment when a magician makes their big reveal.

The TV series sets up a similar finale, but it doesn't quite stick the landing. The ending of The Gentlemen reveals that Bobby had never really been planning to sell his business after all. It was just a plot to bring Susie and Eddie closer together. There's some interesting political maneuvering in the season finale of The Gentlemen, but it still feels like an anticlimax after the show teases a big shootout at Halstead Manor.

5 The TV Show Isn't Weighed Down By Complex Narrative Structures

The movie's meta-narrative doesn't always work.

The Netflix series tends to stick to a more straightforward form of storytelling. There are still a few stylistic flourishes, but the simple structure makes the plot more engrossing.

The movie version of The Gentlemen doesn't always use linear storytelling. It starts near the end, before flashing back to provide all the backstory about Mickey's attempts to get out of the game. Most of this backstory is provided by Fletcher, showing off to Raymond that he has figured out every little detail of what is going on inside their world. Only the third act takes place without any flashbacks , but it still ends with Fletcher pitching the entire story as a movie, in a strange meta twist.

While there are some great moments in The Gentlemen that can only occur because of the movie's unorthodox structure, this same structure also impedes the flow on other occasions. It can just as easily come across as self-congratulatory and unnecessary. By contrast, the Netflix series tends to stick to a more straightforward form of storytelling. There are still a few stylistic flourishes, but the simple structure makes the plot more engrossing.

4 The Movie Has A More Compelling Villain

The tv show's twist isn't such a surprise.

Giancarlo Esposito's reputation means that it isn't much of a surprise when the show reveals that Stanley Johnston isn't the generous, unassuming businessman he first appears to be.

Anyone who has seen Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Boys , or The Mandalorian knows that whenever Giancarlo Esposito shows up, it means the main character is in trouble. His reputation means that it isn't much of a surprise when the show reveals that Stanley Johnston isn't the generous, unassuming businessman he first appears to be. He isn't the only villain Eddie and Susie have to take care of, but none of the others make much of an impact either.

The movie has Jeremy Strong as Matthew Berger in the main villain role. He plays a very similar part to Stanley Johnston. They are both American investors who seem like amicable business partners until they try to drive down the price of the drug empire. The movie's version works more smoothly, as the reveal that he's working with Dry Eye is more surprising . It's also a great reveal when Dry Eye kills Lord George, as it shows that he's more volatile than he seems.

The Rotten Tomatoes score for The Gentlemen reveals how the new Netflix show compares to Guy Ritichie's original action comedy.

3 The TV Show Uses A More Interesting Perspective

Eddie is an outsider in the drug trade.

Eddie's background makes him a total outsider in the drug trade, and his arc over the course of the season is about him getting dragged deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld until he accepts his fate.

Theo James plays Eddie Halstead in the Netflix version of The Gentlemen. He's a British aristocrat working for the UN as a peacekeeping officer until he returns home to visit his dying father. His background makes him a total outsider in the drug trade, and his arc over the course of the season is about him getting dragged deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld until he accepts his fate.

The movie mostly tells the story from the perspective of Mickey and Raymond, a well-established drug kingpin and his right-hand-man. They have both been in the drug trade for a long time, and they aren't surprised by much anymore. Seeing the events of the TV show through Susie's eyes wouldn't be as interesting, because Eddie's journey is more compelling, and he acts as a conduit for the audience when learning about Susie's business.

2 The Movie Is More Tense

There are moments when the snappy dialogue falls away.

Due to the complexity of the plot, there are times when the next beat is completely unpredictable, and Ritchie toys with his audience to heighten the tension.

Like most Guy Ritchie movies, The Gentlemen has a script packed full of witty dialogue and a confident sense of style. However, there are still a few moments when Ritchie chooses to cut the dialogue and keep things simple, and this makes for some incredibly tense scenes. Due to the complexity of the plot, there are times when the next beat is completely unpredictable, and Ritchie toys with his audience to heighten the tension.

The director uses dramatic irony on a couple of occasions for a huge impact. For example, the movie opens with a scene that appears to show Mickey being shot in the back of the head, so when he returns to the same location later, it seems as though his fate is sealed, but the movie subverts expectations instead. The TV series has a few moments of genuine peril, but there is nothing that matches the cinematic tension of the original.

1 The TV Show Is More Humorous

The crime comedy leans further into comedy.

Vinnie Jones and Ray Winstone are charming in their old-school tough guy acts, and Theo James even gets a few chances to show off his deadpan wit, despite him often having to play the straight man.

Both the movie and the TV show are perfect examples of Guy Ritchie's style of comedy, but the show leans a little further into its comedic side. While the movie has plenty of jokes and witty exchanges, comedy isn't such an important part of the plot. In the Netflix show, some jokes are inextricable from the major beats of the narrative. For example, Freddie kills Tommy Dixon because he's humiliated by being forced to dance like a chicken.

The show features a few guest appearances from popular British comedians , including Peter Serafinowicz and Guz Khan. Vinnie Jones and Ray Winstone are charming in their old-school tough guy acts, and Theo James even gets a few chances to show off his deadpan wit, despite him often having to play the straight man. Both versions of The Gentlemen are a fun blend of crime and comedy, but the TV show is a little bit lighter.

Netflix's The Gentlemen proves Guy Ritchie's movies can lay the groundwork for great TV spinoffs, making us want another movie of his as a show.

The Gentlemen

*Availability in US

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Based on the film of the same name, the Gentlemen is a crime drama series created for Netflix by Guy Ritchie. The series follows Eddie Horniman, who inherits his father's estate, only to discover he has inherited a vast cannabis empire - and all of the rivals that come with it.

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COMMENTS

Summarizing vs. Paraphrasing: Differences and Similarities
Paraphrasing is a way of expressing something in your own words while keeping the original meaning. Unlike summarizing, which shortens a text, paraphrasing aims to rephrase it without losing any of the key ideas. It's like taking a complex idea and explaining it in a simpler way but without changing what it means.
Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing (Differences, Examples, How To)
For example, this entire article can be summarized in just a few sentences as follows: Summary: The article discusses paraphrasing vs. summarizing by explaining the two concepts. It specifies when you should use paraphrasing and when you should summarize a piece of text and describes the process of each.
Paraphrasing vs Summarizing: A Comparative Analysis
Summarizing is best when only the main ideas are needed, whereas paraphrasing is suitable for detailed exploration or explanation of the source material. We will talk about this more in detail below. When to Summarize vs. When to Paraphrase. Deciding when to utilize paraphrasing versus summarizing is crucial for effective communication and writing.
What Is the Difference Between Paraphrasing and Summarizing?
Summarizing is correctly mirroring the original writer's message and main ideas. For both paraphrased passages and summaries, you must attribute the information back to the original source. . Knowing the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing is an important writing skill.
Paraphrasing Vs. Summarizing: Knowing The Difference
Paraphrasing and summarizing both offer a way to use someone else's idea as your own in your writing. Paraphrasing transforms the writing into your own words but keeps the same basic length and idea in writing. Summarizing condenses the writing into its main points. Both paraphrasing and summarizing require proper citation because the idea ...
The Difference Between Summarizing & Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is rephrasing something in your own words; the word comes from the Greek para -, meaning "beside" or "closely resembling", 1 combined with "phrase," which we know can mean a string of words or sentences. 2 Paraphrasing isn't practical for entire sources—just for when you want to highlight a portion of a source.
Summarizing vs Paraphrasing: Difference Between Them
Another key distinction between summarizing and paraphrasing is the length of text and level of detail. Summarizations are typically much shorter than the original content, and focus only on central themes or ideas. Paraphrasing, although it may reduce the length a bit, tends to keep more of the original detail and complexity.
Paraphrasing vs Summarizing
When you understand the differences among paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting, it becomes easier to write flowing, informative pieces that are free from plagiarism. ... There are notable similarities between summaries and paraphrases. They both serve to make concepts easier to understand for the reader through slightly different methods. In ...
Quoting vs. Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing
What is summarizing? Next, we come to summarizing. Summarizing is on a much larger scale than quoting or paraphrasing. While similar to paraphrasing in that you use your own words, a summary's primary focus is on translating the main idea of an entire document or long section. Summaries are useful because they allow you to mention entire chapters or articles—or longer works—in only a few ...
Summarizing vs. Paraphrasing: What's the Real Difference?
Summarizing involves condensing a large amount of information into a concise version while maintaining the main points. On the other hand, paraphrasing involves rephrasing the text in your own words while retaining the original meaning. Summaries are shorter than the original text and omit details, while paraphrases are usually the same length ...
Paraphrase vs Summary: What Is The Difference Between Them?
A summary is a concise representation of a source's main ideas, distilling its essential points into a brief and accessible format. Unlike a paraphrase, which maintains the original length and detail, a summary is significantly shorter, stripping away extraneous information to focus solely on the core concepts.
2.7: Summarizing and Paraphrasing
A summary is written in your own words. It contains few or no quotes. A summary is always shorter than the original text, often about 1/3 as long as the original. It is the ultimate fat-free writing. An article or paper may be summarized in a few sentences or a couple of paragraphs.
Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing: What's The Difference?
Another difference between paraphrasing and summarizing is the length of the piece of writing that results from each process. When people paraphrase a written document, the paraphrased document usually ends up being a similar length to the original piece. Similarly, if someone paraphrases the events of a meeting or presentation, the length of ...
Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing. This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.
Difference Between Summary and Paraphrase (with Comparison Chart)
Summary refers to the concise statement containing the key points of the passage. Paraphrase refers to the translation of the passage using understandable words, so as to make it more lucid. Focuses on. Central Idea. Simplification and Clarification. Length compared to the original text. Shorter.
Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting: What's the Difference?
This paraphrase breaks up longer sentences into shorter ones, adding some of the author's own commentary towards the end and artfully rephrasing the original ideas. A proper in-text citation is included. The second paraphrase is acceptable. What Is Summarizing? Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing, but there are a few key differences.
Summarizing vs Paraphrasing : What is the Difference Between?
Meaning and Definition. Simply put, summarizing is "condensing," while paraphrasing is "rewriting.". The goal of paraphrasing is to rephrase the original text in a distinctive manner without distorting the original text's meaning. Summarizing, on the other hand, conveys the key concepts from a written work in a condensed and clear manner.
Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting: Similar Yet Different
Summarizing is condensing information; paraphrasing is rewording information; and quoting is copying information inside quotation marks.. Most of the time, when you're referring back to a previous conversation, text, or piece of media, you're not recalling each part exactly as it happened—that would require a memory better than any of us probably have!
Quoting, Paraphrasing, & Summarizing
Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing are all different ways of including evidence and the ideas of others into your assignments. Using evidence from credible sources to support your thesis is an important part of academic writing. Citing the source of any quote, paraphrase, or summary is an important step to avoid plagiarism.
Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing
Quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing are similar in that they allow a writer to incorporate another writer's work into his or her own work. However, they are different in the methods of application. Quotation s are identical in every way to the original. To quote a source, write out the exact words in the original document and put those words ...
Differences in a Paraphrase, Summary, and Précis
A summary is generally understood to be of something long enough to benefit from a summary. There's no real summary for, "I am going to the store." (A paraphrase would be, "The speaker is traveling to the shop.") A summary is understood to be smaller than the original and may use some of the same words. A summary also does not have to ...
Direct Quotes vs. Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing Explained
Paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is when you restate someone else's words, but not word for word. Example (original quote): "It's risky trusting employees as much as we do. Giving them as much freedom as we do. But it's essential in creative companies where you have much greater risk from lack of innovation.".
5 Ways Guy Ritchie's The Gentleman Movie Is Better Than The Show (& 5
Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen is a TV adaptation of his own gangster movie from 2019, but it takes a slightly different approach. It isn't a direct adaptation, despite some similarities between The Gentlemen and the original movie.It's an interesting hybrid of a remake and a completely new story. It's still about English aristocrats using their land to farm marijuana, but there are many differences.
Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska
G. Summary of Changes in the Final Rule. The following paragraphs summarize changes the BLM made from the proposed rule to the final rule. More detailed explanations for the changes are found in the responses to comments and the description of the final rule in section IV of this preamble to the final rule. Start Printed Page 38723