1. The document provides steps for effectively paraphrasing a passage, which includes reading the passage, understanding its meaning, writing the paraphrase without looking at the original text, checking for accuracy, and citing sources. 2. Additional tips for paraphrasing are to think aloud, focus on the main idea rather than grammar, and reread if unable to paraphrase initially. 3. A sample shows an incorrect paraphrase that is too similar to the original versus a correct paraphrase that restates the key points in the writer's own words and cites the source.

1. PARAPHRASING

2. Steps to Effective Paraphrasing
Definition 1. Read the passage.
• Paraphrasing means
2. Make sure you understand the
putting what you meaning. Reread if necessary.
have read into your
own words.
3. Set the passage aside, and write
your paraphrase. Thinking aloud
• You paraphrase by might be helpful.
reading
something, thinking
4. Check your paraphrase making sure
about what it it is accurate.
means, and then
restating it in your
5. Use quotation marks to indicate
own words. unique terms or phrases quoted
exactly from the source.
6. Record the author and page number
directly after your paraphrase.

3. Paraphrasing Tips
• Think aloud as you look away from the text.
• Focus on main idea.
• Don’t worry about grammar! Restate idea first!
• If you cannot paraphrase after reading, it is important to
go back and reread to clarify information.
• Review your paraphrase, looking for errors and
completeness.

4. Sample:
Original Passage
Annie Oakley’s life spanned years of tremendous
change for American women. By the time of her
death in 1926, Americans were celebrating the
liberated, urban focused, modern times of the Jazz
Age. Women had won the right to vote, wore less
restrictive clothes, and followed a changing ideal
that was loosening some of the restrictions on
women’s roles and behavior that had reigned
through the nineteenth century.

5. Incorrect Paraphrasing
Annie Oakley’s life spanned years of significant
changes for American women. By the time she
died in 1926 women had the vote, wore looser
clothing and embraced the freedom from restrictive
19th century roles and behaviors.
(Sounds too much like the original passage. The
sentence structure is too similar to the original
text.)

6. Correct Paraphrasing
As discussed in the biography on PBS’s American
Experience web page, sharpshooter Annie Oakley lived
through a period of many liberating changes for
women, from the Victorian era through the first quarter of
the 20th century. Examples include voting rights, for women
as well as the freedom to wear comfortable and practical
clothing (Annie Oakley).
Include on your Works Cited page:
“Annie Oakley: In a Man’s World.” American Experience. 2006. PBS Online.
19 May 2008. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/oakley/sfeature/sf_excerpts.html>.