Academic writing often entails the integration of important ideas, information

and discoveries from experts in your chosen field of study. the inclusion of source
materials provide evidence, lend credibility, and extend support to the ideas presented in
your work. the basic skills of quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, when mastered,
will provide the writer with the tools required for effective incorporation of source
materials in his work. writers, especially students, are often confused on whether to
quote, paraphrase, or summarize an excerpt from another author's work. for a skillful
application of these techniques, one must learn what they are, and when to use them.
A quotation is an exact reproduction of spoken or written words. Direct quotes
can provide strong evidence, act as an authoritative voice, or support a writer's
statements.http!""www.lc.unsw.edu.au"onlib"sumpara.html#quotations are generally
used when the writer considers it important to present the actual language used by the
author of the source, including syntax and cadence. Adopting another author's exact
words is sometimes necessary, as when they convey a powerful meaning, or when the
words he used are so economical and right on target that altering it in any way weakens
the message he wants to express.
A paraphrase, on the other hand, is a presentation of a source material using the
writer's own words. it retains the same meaning of the text but the words and phrasing
are changed. paraphrases are usually shorter than the material used, but it is not
uncommon to find paraphrases longer than the original text. in a paraphrase, the
sentences correspond to the sentences of the cited material, thus, all the ideas in the
original are to be found $ust like in a quotation, albeit in a manner that the writer deems
appropriate. As in a direct quotation, a paraphrase delivers the exact meaning that the
resource material conveys, but it is more convenient to use for a number of situations,
like when the text is too technical, abstract, or when the writer thinks that his readers
will understand it better.
%ike the paraphrase, a summary is a presentation of a text using the writer's
own words but, unlike it, the summary presents only the central idea in a condensed
form. it therefore must be necessarily much shorter than the original text.
&enerally, the usage of the quote, paraphrase, or summary is determined by the
degree to which the author wants to integrate the source material. 'n a quotation, the
writer presents the exact text, ensuring that the full meaning, with its associated feelings
and technicalities, that the author of the text wishes to convey is delivered. (uotations
are therefore used when the author's words convey a powerful meaning, when you want
the solid reputation of a source to lend authority and credibility, or to support claims in,
or provide evidence for, your writing. for example, a passage in the book )avage
Dreams! A *ourney 'nto the %andscape +ars of the American +est written by ,ebecca
)olnit states that,
-.y and large /osemite has been preserved as though it were a painting. 0he
boundaries of the park are the gilt frame around a masterpiece and within the frame we
are urged to take only pictures, leave only footprints. 0here are enormously important
reasons to do so 1 there are too many people coming to the park to do it any other way 1
and yet ' cannot help feeling something is sadly missing from this experience of nature.
%ooking is a fine thing to do to pictures, but hardly an adequate way to live in the
world. 't is nature as a place in which we do not belong, place in which we do not live,
in which we are intruders. A tourist is by definition an outsider, a person who does not
belong, a stranger in paradise. )olnit, ,ebecca. )avage Dreams! A *ourney 'nto the
%andscape +ars of the American +est. .erkeley! 2niversity of 3alifornia 4ress, 5666#.
A quotation taken from that excerpt by 0he +riting 3enter
http!""www.umt.edu"writingcenter"docs"resourcesforwriters"usingsources.pdf# will read
thus,
-7fforts to preserve /osemite -As though it were a painting- create a distance
between the visitor and the landscape )olnit 89:#. )olnit worries that such a distance
between nature and visitor implies that nature is -a place in which we do not belong, a
place in which we do not live. in which we are intruders- )olnit 89:#. 0his distanced
relationship with the place differs drastically from one in which the individual interacts
with and relies upon the land, sometimes altering it and sometimes being altered by it.-
0o a lesser degree, the paraphrase delivers the same but the difference in words
and phrasing may alter the intent or emotion that the author of the original text managed
to instill. 4araphrasing is often used as an alternative to a direct quotation, to rewrite
someone else's ideas without changing the meaning, to express someone else's ideas in
your own words or to support claims in, or provide evidence for, your writing.
'n the above example, a valid paraphrase of the entire passage by the same
source reads,
-)olnit argues that because conservation efforts have conceived of /osemite as
a work of art, the park is represented as nature appropriately experienced as one might
experience a painting through sight only )olnit 89:#. +hile this representation makes
sense in light of the throngs of people flocking to /osemite, it limits the ways in which
an individual might experience the park's landscape, since it implies that that nature is to
be viewed and not altered, that it is to be visited and not lived in )olnit 89:#.-
A summary differs from both the quotation and the paraphrase in that the
summary focuses only on the central idea, and details, examples and formalities are
omitted. )ummaries are normally used to condense lengthy passages, providing only a
broad overview of the selected text. 't is also used to outline the main points of someone
else's work in your own words, to briefly give examples of several differing points of
view on a topic, or to support claims in, or provide evidence for, your writing.
0he summary of the passage from the book by )olnit may be presented in this
form!
-3onservation efforts traditionally have represented /osemite as a work of art
marked by distinct borders )olnit 89:#. +hile )olnit acknowledges that this
representation may serve to protect the park, she also suggests that it limits the
individual's relationship to the landscape )olnit 89:#.-
;nowing the differences between these three ways of citing source materials
provides the writer with the guidelines towards using them skillfully. (uotations are
used to stress the author's exact intent and meaning in the passage he had written, while
paraphrases are more frequently found when writers prefer to use their own words, but
want to capture the passage's exact meaning, when conveying the source material's
message. And lastly, a summary gives only the central idea, minus the details and other
peripheral messages.