Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is putting the author's idea into your own words. This does not mean changing a few words around. Read the material carefully and record only keywords. Paraphrases are not necessarily shorter than the original, but the language will be more natural and familiar. If you paraphrase, you still must credit the author for the ideas. The ideas (or sentences) in the original will often be in the same order and format in the paraphrase. Paraphrases are often used with supporting materials (examples, causes, comparison/contrasts, conclusions, hypotheses, and biographical information.) You must include the author's last name and page number after the paraphrase.

Original:

What Stengel was actually acting like much of the time, however, was an overage juvenile delinquent. He loved practical jokes, including mean ones, as well as verbal jokes. He was aggressive and boisterous and got into fights, in ball games and after hours. He was serious about playing baseball to win, but never solemn about it (or anything else). He was a prototype of what older players then called "a fresh busher," and a later generation called "flaky."

Paraphrase:

Stengel often behaved much younger than his actual age. He enjoyed jokes, yet he was an aggressive individual, sometimes leading to fights. Although serious about baseball, he never became overly "solemn." He gained a reputation as being flaky (Koppett 139).

Entry in the bibliography at the end of the project:

Koppett, Leonard. The Man in the Dugout: Baseball's Top Managers and How They

Got That Way. New York: Crown Publishers, 1993.