Although Asperger saw the condition as a biological defect of the emotions that was inborn and therefore similar to a physical defect, Kanner saw it as psychological in origin, as reflecting poor parenting and particularly a frigidly distant mother. The condition is often not noticeable in the child’s first year, yet it becomes more apparent as the child reaches the age of two or three. It occurs in approximately one in a thousand children, and it exists in all parts of the world, its characteristics strikingly similar in vastly differing cultures. The cause of the condition autism has been disputed. What follows is an example of illegitimate paraphrase: A whole generation of parents-mothers, particularly-were made to feel guilty for the autism of their children. Though Asperger regarded it as a biological defect of affective contact-innate, inborn, analogous to a physical or intellectual defect-Kanner tended to view it as a psychogenic disorder, a reflection of bad parenting, and most especially of a chillingly remote, often professional, “refrigerator mother.” At this time, autism was often regarded as “defensive” in nature, or confused with childhood schizophrenia. It is often not recognized in the first year of life, but tends to become obvious in the second or third year. Its incidence is about one in a thousand, and it occurs throughout the world, its features remarkably consistent even in extremely different cultures. The cause of autism has also been a matter of dispute. Let’s look at examples of illegitimate and legitimate paraphrase, using a passage from Oliver Sacks’ essay “An Anthropologist on Mars”: Go back to the original to ensure that (a) your paraphrase is accurate and (b) you have truly said things in your own words.Convert the ideas from your notes into full sentences.You will find it much easier to avoid borrowing from the original passage because you will not have seen it recently. When it comes time to write the paper, rely on your notes rather than on the author’s work. Make sure to jot down the source as well as the page number so that you can make a proper reference later on.What matters is that you capture the original idea. In your note, you should already be translating the language of the original into your own words.You don’t even need to use full sentences. If you think you will want to paraphrase the passage, make a note only of the author’s basic point (or points).When you are at the note-taking stage, and you come across a passage that may be useful for your essay, do not copy the passage verbatim unless you think you will want to quote it.The following strategy will make the job of paraphrasing a lot easier: Focus, rather, on filtering the ideas through your own understanding. You must also create your own sentence structures.įinding new words for ideas that are already well expressed can be hard, but changing words should not be your chief aim anyway. You must do more than merely substitute phrases here and there. The paraphrase must be in your own words.Whenever you paraphrase, remember these two points: Allow yourself the space to develop those ideas. Though paraphrase and summary are often preferable to quotation, do not rely too heavily on them, either. If your reader needs to know only the bare bones, then summarize. But above all, think about how much of the detail from your source is relevant to your argument.

Space limitations may guide you in your choice. Consider using either tool when an idea from one of your sources is important to your essay but the wording is not. These techniques help you take greater control of your essay. Paraphrase and summary are indispensable in argumentative papers because they allow you to include other people’s ideas without cluttering up your paragraphs with quotations. Argumentative essays, by contrast, rely on all three tools. For example, literature reviews in science reports rely almost exclusively on summary.

When choosing which to use, consider first your discipline and the type of writing in which you are engaged. Along with quotation, paraphrase and summary provide the main tools for integrating your sources into your papers. To summarize means to reduce the most essential points of someone else’s work into a shorter form. To paraphrase means to restate someone else’s ideas in your own language at roughly the same level of detail. When should I paraphrase, and when should I summarize?

Paraphrase and summarize