Plagiarism

Paraphrases restate a passage in another form and in other words, but unlike summaries, they contains approximately the same amount of detail and the same number of words as the original. If a passage contains an important idea but does not meet the requirements for quotation, restate the idea in your own words, sentence structure, and sequence. When you finish the paraphrase, check it against the original passage to be the sure the idea has been completely restated. You are guilty of plagiarism if you half-copy the author's sentence-either by mixing the author's well-chosen phrase without using quotation marks, or by plugging your own synonyms into the author's sentence structure.
    Paraphrasing Directions:

1. When paraphrasing, retain the meaning of a passage, but put it in your own words; do not merely substitute synonyms and alter the author's sentence structure.



 
2. To avoid any doubt about where your ideas leave off and the paraphrased ideas begin, identify the author at the beginning of the paraphrase.



 
3. Avoid paraphrasing in a way that misrepresents or distorts the original author's meanings. It is often difficult to imagine an idea being expressed in any other words when the original text is in front of you, but if you don't constantly refer to it, you will come up with your own ways of expressing the same idea. If you've distorted the meaning in any way while paraphrasing in the manner, you can correct it later.

      ***Quotation marks are not used to enclose paraphrases.                          
                                               For help or more information visit the BYU-H Reading and Writing Center.

Original Text

It was 11:40 p.m., the night of April 14, 1912. Five times that day warning had been received of ice ahead. But no one aboard was concerned. New York was just two days away and the Titanic was unsinkable. Millionaires had flocked from all over the Continent to board her in England just to make this maiden voyage. It was unthinkable that ice could harm this super ship.

-          Taken from Boning, Richard A. Titanic. Barnell Loft Ltd., New York: 1974.

Weak paraphrase

It was 11:40 p.m., the night of April 14, 1912. On that day, they had gotten five warning of ice in front of them. However, nobody was worried. The Titanic could not be sunk and in two days it would reach New York. Just to be on her first trip, rich people had gathered from all around the Continent to get on the Titanic in England. No one could believe that ice could damage thus powerful ship.

Strong Paraphrase

It was the Titanic's first voyage and the wealthy has come from all over Europe to make the trip. The Titanic was thought to be an unsinkable vessel. That is why although the Titanic was warned of ice five times on April 12, 1912, on one aboard was worried.

OR

On April 12, 1912, the Titanic was on its first voyage. Many of Europe's wealthy were aboard. That day, the Titanic was warned of ice five times, but no one was worried. The Titanic was unsinkable or so they thought.