Skip to Main Content

Assignment skills: Paraphrasing

Assignment Skills subject guide

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is when you re-write a piece of information into your own words while keeping the original meaning.

The length of what you have written is similar to the original.

Your version must be referenced.

Summarising

A summary is when the original piece that you are reading and referring to is much longer than what you write. For example, a chapter or a book summarised into one or two paragraphs.
 
The summary should include the main ideas, facts and statements of the original.

Direct quotes

Direct quoting is when you take an exact piece of writing from a resource and refer to it in your assignment.

Use direct quotes sparingly.

It is best to speak to your teacher about how they may prefer direct quotes to be used.

Short quotes are integrated into the sentence you are writing. Short quotes are 30 words or less for Harvard referencing and 40 words of less for APA referencing. Single or double quotation marks are required around the quote, depending on the referencing style used.

Long quotes are separated from the main text. You need to create a new paragragh and indent the writing from the main text and make the font 2 points smaller. Do not use quotation marks. See example below:

Example:

F. Scott Fitzgeralds writing gives the reader a gateway into the world of the 1920's. The glitz and the glamour of scenes in America and France captures the imagination of reckless abandon coupled with an anxiety to fit into the material world demonstrated by the following passage:

Reaching the raft she was out of breath,

but a tanned woman with very white teeth

looked down at her, and Rosemary, suddenly

conscious of the raw whiteness of her own body,

turned on her back and drifted towards shore.

The hairy man holding the bottle spoke to her as

she came out (Fitzgerald 1934, p. 7).

 

© Copyright 2023 Bendigo Kangan Institute ABN 74 802 942 886

Bendigo TAFE acknowledges their campuses are located on the ancestral lands of the Djaara people of the Dja Dja Wurrung and the Yorta Yorta People. The institute respects traditional custodians, Elders and their cultural heritage.

Kangan Institute acknowledges their campuses are located on the ancestral lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations. The institute respects traditional custodians, Elders and their cultural heritage.

Images/icons used by BKI under license from Canva ; Microsoft image used with permission ; Book cover images under license from Syndetics