AW Lesson 7: Paraphrasing

11/2/2015

Hi everyone,

In just two more weeks, we'll be finished our research paper!

Paraphrasing:
In today's class, we learned about paraphrasing. This is another way we can include information into our research papers from our sources. When you paraphrase, you put the author’s ideas into your own words. Even if you want to use general facts from your source, you still have to paraphrase this information.

Remember that some paraphrases need in-text citation and some paraphrases do not require it.

general facts do NOT need in-text citation
opinions, statistics and information that is not common knowledge NEED in-text citation

Before you paraphrase, you have to identify shared language (= words that you cannot change) and find synonyms for words that you can change. This is the most important step in writing a good paraphrase.

This is a difficult skill to master and it often takes a long time to paraphrase information. I even have trouble paraphrasing when I have to prepare research papers, too. Be patient and don’t give up!

Homework:
1. Blog Comment #6
2. Complete Body Paragraph #2

email Tuesday, November 3 by 12:00noon.

Blog Question #6:

Review the feedback on body paragraph #1

What two points do you need to remember when you write body paragraphs 2?
Why is it important to have an outline before your write your essay?

Write 10-12 sentences.
Use capitalization, punctuation & spelling correctly.
Submit by Wednesday, November 4 by 6:00pm.

16 Comments

AW-Saeko

11/1/2015 02:07:50 am

Hi Nicole,

1.There were many mistakes in body paragraph#1, but two points which I need to remember to write body paragraph #2 are conjunctions and positions to write a comma and a period in in-text citation. About a conjunction, I tend to separate sentences although it is easy for reader to connect two sentences, so I want to be aware of conjunctions. Related to in-text citation, there was no space between period and page number. In opposite to that, there was extra space between author and comma. I had thought I could write complete in-text citation, but I didn't check them carefully. Therefore, I want to check them in detail.

2.I think it is easier to write introduction and body paragraph than don't have an outline. If I didn't write outline, I would write extra and too long paragraphs. However, I did it in advance, so I can see the flow of whole sentences. Moreover, I can decide the fundation of sentenses by writing outlines, so I just need to expand it. I think what I have an outline is a very efficient way for writing essay.

Thanks,
Saeko

AW-Mayu

11/1/2015 07:15:16 am

Hi Nicole,

1. I made a lot of grammatical mistakes and also some mistakes of structure in body paragraphs 1. I think I need to take care of grammar and the order of supporting idea and details when I write body paragraphs 2. First is the grammar mistakes.In body paragraphs 1, there were some places which I forgot to change the words into plural or past tense form. Also, I often write sentences in a roundabout way. So I'll try not to do this and think about better expressions. In addition to these things, I tend to forget using comma when I quote experts' opinions. So I'll take care about this, too. Next is the structure mistakes. In body paragraphs 1, there was a place I didn't write supporting idea and started with details.This isn't good, so I won't do this when I write body paragraphs 2.

2. I think having an outline is important because if we decide what to write before we start writing, we don't have to worry about it while writing an essay. If we don't decide it, our writing will take much more times and it will be very hard task. It might cause much more grammar or structure mistakes. Organization of essay will have neither rhyme nor reason. Also, we probably can't find good sources if we don't have an outline. I think lacking of a plan of writing will affect every steps of writing. Of course, this is a bad effect. If we have an outline, we can write an essay smoothly and also effectively. So I think having an outline is essential for writing an essay. I'm glad that I have an outline for my essay.

Thanks,
Mayu

AW-Shinji

11/1/2015 11:57:10 pm

Hi Nicole.

1.First of all, I made a lot of mistakes with grammers and simple spellings in the body paragraph #1. It reminds me of the importance of reviewing the entire text carefully. In addition, there were many vague opinions and unrelated episodes. I needed to analyze more what I should write how to describe it.

2. In my opinion, having an outline before we begin to write journals or thesis is quite beneficial because we can construct our thought very logically. Brainstorming our ideas without it would be more difficult to organize. Thanks to the draft, we are able to produce a persuasive essay relatively easier.

AW-Nanami

11/3/2015 04:42:13 am

1. As I wrote last time, I need to be careful when using the plurals. Many sentences were corrected because of the misused plurals. I also need to get the period on the right place when using the in-text citations. Although I get to have a quite good grade for my organization of body paragraph 1, I thought I still need to watch out for my ideas and details of it. My body paragraph 2 has the most difficult ideas in my research paper, so I might need some assistance.

2. Writing an outline before we write the actual research paper makes us save time and makes us comfortable of where the ideas are going. It would take much more time when we write the whole paper first and get it corrected many times. That would be too tiring and it might make us lose our motivation. Thanks to the outline, we are very sure of where our ideas are going and we know what sources to use. I think this is very important for us learning how to write an effective research paper. I think the outline is indispensable when writing a good research paper or an essay.

AW-nami

11/3/2015 08:54:41 am

1 First I forgot to conclude my first body paragraph. This time I made a concluding sentence to end the second part of my research paper. I thought the last sentence is important when writing a research paper to make it clear what I want to tell to the readers. Secondly, I made sure i have a paraphrase in my paper.It was hard to change the words to different words and change the order of the sentence. Since the phrase that the writer wrote lingers in my head it was hard to make another sentence in my head.

2 To make an outline is the best way to write the paper in an easy way. The outline helped me when i was stuck writing my paper too. I went back to the outlines and checked what i was supposed to write in the very beginning. The outlines helped me to get back to the right place when I was lost. I really think an outline is useful and brings efficiency writing an essay.

AW-Kana

11/3/2015 06:13:34 pm

Hi Nicole,

1. In my body paragraph 1, I have made some basic mistakes. First of all, I forgot to justify my margins. It is the important part, but I forgot to check it, so when I write my body paragraph 2, I have to be aware of it. Also, I forgot to introduce my quote from the book. Since I have read the story, I can understand what I am talking about, but the person who is reading this paper might not know the story. So, I have to remember that I give an short explanation before I use quotes.

2.It is important to have an outline because it is easier for us to write our papers. If we do not have an outline, we have to think about what we are going to write next everytime.It may affect us, and it can lower our body paragraph's quality. Also, it is good because it is easier to keep on track. If we don't make our outline before we write, the main idea could change while we write, and as a whole it will make our paper look bad because it is not organized.

Thanks,
Kana

AW-Kanako

11/3/2015 07:05:16 pm

Hi Nicole.

1, I made many basic mistakes in my BP1 like margins or tabs, so I felt that being careful about fundamental things is important. We often take care about grammar or structure things but neglect basics. I also found that I have to read my own writing many times before complete to write. If I noticed a mistake in first part after finished writing, it will take much time to rewrite.

2, I guess this is because to write correct structured paper. When I wrote sentences without considering deeply, it was so incoherent that I had to think about my theme again. By making outline before writing, we can confirm and think about our theme many times therefore our ideas would be refined and be more academic. And of course we will make less mistakes.

Thanks.
Kanako

AW-Natsumi

11/3/2015 07:40:07 pm

Hi Nicole,

I find the design of top page changes and it is really nice! Beautiful flowers.

Q1. First of all, I made a lot of mistakes about using the indefinite article in my BP#1. I think I used the article somewhat vaguely. I also noticed that there were some abstract expressions. In research essay, it is important to explain things clearly and write them in concretely. Therefore I should be careful about the way of the explanation so that my description makes sense. By giving a suitable example would make my essay better because it helps readers to understand my thesis. To write my BP#2, in-text citation and paraphrase are the two main points. We learned the writing style, so to read the reference materials deeply and search for the good part for our essay is significant. When writing paraphrase, we write it in our own words, so we should consider how to devise the literally plot. We identify shared language and use synonyms. Those are the most important for writing paraphrase.

Q2. I think having an outline is essential because it is useful to organize my research essay orderly. In research paper, we need a theoretical and straightforward structure, so an outline is effective. It helps us to sort our head out and choose which statement put first or second; a list of our ideas makes it easier to start with writing body paragraph. At first, I struggled to work out my thesis statements and support ideas however I found it was a crucial work to write the rest.

Thanks.

Natsumi

AW-Taiki

11/3/2015 08:02:28 pm

Hi, Nicole.

Q1
One is the way to write in text citations. I made many mistakes which was related to them. The other is the way to paraphrase someone else's opinion. I studied it in the last class, but it was not easy to use it completely. In fact, I have learned these two things last year. However, I don't remember them. Therefore I want to master them.

Q2
In fact, I had not known why an outline was required before starting to write BP1. However I noticed that it is very important. First of all, it helped me to write my BP1 smoothly. I could avoid spending much time due to the plan I made before BP1. Secondly, I could search for proper sources because I had decided what information I would use.

AW-Ayaka

11/3/2015 08:48:46 pm

Hi Nicole,

1. First of all, there were many bad points in my BP #1, such as in-text citation and grammar. I need to do direct quotes from some novels to show the examples. In addition, I have to look for appropriate parts from the novels, and explain about it. Also I need to remember not to write futile sentences. I wrote some too general information in BP #1. I need to think a lot about information, and write research paper with well organization.

2. It is because I can think about whole my essay before I write, and write each paragraph easier. If I don’t have outline, I have to think over every time writing paragraphs. It takes a lot of time, and it is difficult to form what I want to express. However, if I made good outline, I'm able to look at it, and write well organized essay, I think.

AW- Akimitsu

11/3/2015 10:07:57 pm

Hi, nicole.

Q1. When I reviewed my body paragraph 1, I think I need to write some Japanese samples in romanji. In my body paragraph 1, I wrote Japanese sample in Japanese. However, reader is not use Japanese so , I had to write in romanji. In addition. I wrote titles in every pages header. I will be careful about these two points.

Q2. Because of outline, I think I could write my body paragraph smoothly. I am not good at writing essay. When I wrote my essay, I always took many times. However, I could write shorter times than ever. So, I think outline is important.

AW-Yoko

11/4/2015 12:46:14 am

Hello, Nicole.

1. The two points I need to be careful with my in-text citations and expressions of Japanese examples. First of all, there were some parts that I didn’t use the correct form of in-text citation. I need to remember the position of periods and the space in my in-text citations. I also must be careful that which I should use, direct quotes or second hand quotes. I must make sure of the difference between who wrote the materials and who developed the ideas more carefully, especially when I quote from electronic resources. I sometimes used direct quotes when I had to write second hand quotes actually. Second, I didn’t give translations and use italics when I explained Japanese expressions showing some concrete examples. I need to remember that I should think of readers when I write papers in English because readers sometimes are not only Japanese but also other countries’ people. These two points I gave above are very important when I write body paragraph 2, so I review your advices on my body paragraph 1 and previous lessons carefully.

2. I think writing outline is very useful in order to not only help writers their papers logically and easily but also help readers understand what writers want to say more correctly. Since I entered the university, I have written a lot of papers in English, and I also have written badly organized ideas and composition lacking in unity because it was very difficult for me to think of structure writing papers. However, this time, before I wrote body paragraph, I had a chance to think of my structure to be more specific and enough time to find resources I really needed. So it took very short time to write my essay in this instance, and I feel that I can describe more organized ideas than before. I learned that an outline was the most important part in order to write effective research paper.

Thanks.
Yoko

AW-Asa

11/4/2015 12:46:49 am

1.
I have to make sure that BP2 has a good connection with BP1. I cannot just start totally new sentences. BP2 somehow had to be connected to what I wrote on BP1. Thus, it is inportant to have a good connection. Also, we needed to use paraphrasing this time. It was actually hard to look for synonyms in order to say the same thing in different words. We always need to remember to express with our own words.
2.
I normally did not brainstorm or make an outline before I write. However, after your lesson, I realized how important to have an outline before writing. It is good since I know what I will write, so it is much easier to write an essay. I think I will have an outline next time I write an essay, too.

AW-Yuya

11/4/2015 12:56:42 am

Hi,Nicole

1.I think two points I need to write paragraph is to give many information and write details using examples. My paragraph has less information to tell the readers about my topic, and it was very vague. Also, my information I showed in the paragraph tells only the surface on the topic. It is important for me to put more information more deeply, and describe them more clearly, so as to make readers clearly understand.

2.I think this is because it is clear to show what do we have to do when writing an essay. To look before what it is going tobe is very important for writers to build how does the writings going to be. It is inportant to write outlines when doing writing methods.

AWーKazuna

11/4/2015 04:22:15 am

Hi,Nicole

First, I should apologize to you for late submitting my blog comment.
I perfectly forgot to send you.

I'm sorry for it.

Q1

The point that I should be most careful is whether the fact I took is correct. Because, in body paragraph 1, I had many mistakes in my information. It was worst mistakes when I write research paper. To avoid writing incorrect fact, I should see information carefully. And another thing which I should be careful when I write is concluding sentence. Why I think so, because end of my body paragraph 1 was not concluded. Concluding sentence is the most important part of the paragraph I think,so when I wrote next paragraphs, I also be careful about it.

Q2
I think the outline of research paper has very important role. When I write body paragraph, I couldn't write it without my outline because there is story of my research paper. Thanks of it, I could understand what should I write next after I wrote 1 sentence. In other words, I may not have written my body paragraph. Therefore, I think it is important to write outline before I write paragraphs.

AW-Nagisa

11/4/2015 09:08:46 pm

Hi, Nicole

Sorry for late to post my blog comment.
But I'll be glad if you look at my comment.

Q1
What two points do you need to remember when you write body paragraphs 2?

First of all, it is important to write at least one parapharase.
We are making a research paper to practice what I learn in every AW class. In the last week's class, we learned the way to write a paraphrase, so we should have written a paraphrase.
Secondly, I made a mistake in quoting from a book that I chose as a these at this time. I quoted a sentence that is not connected to what I want to insist, so I couldn't use a quote correctly. For example, I wanted to explain differences of settings between Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels, so I should have quoted a part that is written about a landscape or character in a story. But, I thought it is no problem if I quoted some scene that a unique character is there and it is my mistake. I will take care of it from now on, and I will quote more effectively.

Q2.
Why is it important to have an outline before your write your essay?

It is because that could write an essay with unity. In writing an outline, we have to think of a construction, so look at a entire of an essay, not a part of an essay. Then, we necessarily think of the way to write an essay with unity. It is the most important to present what we want to insist to other people. Unless doing that, readers don't catch what we want to insist. A research paper is so long, so it is difficult to write an essay with unity unless making an outline at first, I think.
Also, that makes us to think of an effective quote. In making an outline, we think of places to put some quotes, and then, we have to think that where is the best place for an effetive quote.

Thanks,
Nagisa

AW Lesson 7: Paraphrasing

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