block quote to paraphrase

1. Citations, Block
Quotes, and
Paraphrasing…
(…or, How to Gain Back 50-100 Words in
Your 600-Word Essay in 3 Easy Steps)

2. Make Every Word Count!
Writing a 600-word essay doesn’t leave room for
wasting words. If you are going to state a clear
thesis, support it with information from the class
sources, and offer a practical application, all in
just 600 words, then you need to make every
word count.

3. To begin …Don’t restate the question within the essay
•For one thing, it’s somewhat redundant; the reader (i.e. me) knows
the question you’re addressing.
•For another thing, you don’t have room in a short essay for this; each
restatement uses 20-25 words which could go towards your argument
instead.
•Also, it is not necessary to make the point that “as a Christian” or
describe how we are “rooted in Christ”. That is presupposed in the
nature of the assignment part of the questions. Don’t expend words
on this; use them to strengthen and illustrate your argument.

4. Trim down the
long quotations.
However, the best way to prune
unnecessary words and increase the
space for more information is…

5. Add a Slide Title - 4
However, it can really eat into
your word count, leaving much
less room to:
• Clarify your position
• Make supporting statements
• Include relevent context
• Consider alternatives
• Expand your application
When working with primary sources such as
John Wesley or Augustine, it is tempting to
include a nice, long, block quotation, for several
reasons:
• It provides a bit more background than just
using one phrase by itself.
• It sounds nice; their use of language was
really lovely!
• It adds significantly to your word count (and
hey, we’ve all been there.)

6. Let’s consider how to convert a
citation from…
• A block quote using 75-100 words, into…
• An in-line quote using 25-40 words, into…
• A clear and concise paraphrase using ~10-15 words.

7. Block Quotations
(from previous ethics papers)
“Wesley’s teaching on the Sermon on the Mount illuminates his concern for social change
via change of the heart. He says in the first of the series about Jesus’ view of poverty,
He does not say, they that are poor, as to outward circumstances, -- it being
not impossible, that some of these may be as far from happiness as a monarch
upon his throne;
but ‘the poor in spirit,’ -- they who, whatever their outward circumstances
are, have that disposition of heart which is
the first step to all real, substantial happiness, either in this
world, or that which is to come.” [71 words in quote, 103 words overall]
This block quote has lots of good information, but it takes up
1/6 of your word count! That’s just too much.

8. Converting to In-Line Quotation
Instead try converting it to an in-line quotation to save words:
First, trim down the lead-in sentence. You don’t really need to point out that
Jesus is talking about poverty here; it will be evident from the quotation
itself.
“Wesley’s teaching on the Sermon on the Mount illuminates his concern for social change via change
of the heart. He says in the first of the series about Jesus’ view of poverty,”
This will save you 13 words, which may not sound like much, but it adds up, especially when you do
it several times throughout your essay.

9. Add a Slide Title - 5
You could adjust this to an in-line quotation, such as this:
Wesley’s teaching on the Sermon on the Mount illuminates his concern for
social change via change of the heart: “He does not say, they that are poor, as
to outward circumstances …but ‘the poor in spirit,’ -- they who, whatever their
outward circumstances are, have that disposition of heart which is the first
step to all real, substantial happiness, either in this world, or that which is to
come.” [50 words in quote]
You have now moved from 103 words to words overall.