GW Summer Bridge Research: Quotations, Paraphrasing, & Summary

The distinction between paraphrase, and summary is central to academic writing, especially for assignments that require critical responses to sources. Paraphrase and summary are important for accomplishing different jobs in the essay:

• Quotation allows the writer to fully use the original author’s words using quotation marks in order to make a point or to provide support for an idea.
   
  • Example: The professor said, “The sun is shining.”
     
• Paraphrase enables the writer to comprehend the content of a source by putting the original words into the writer’s own words.
   
  • Example: The professor explained that the weather would be sunny all day today.
     
• Summary: Summary is used to provide a brief understanding of the main points of a source. In this case, only the most important or most essential information from a source is used.
   
  • Example: Today in class, we talked about the sunny day outside.

The following examples illustrating the distinction between quotation, paraphrase, summary, and analysis are based on a well-known nursery rhyme:

“Jack and Jill ran up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after.”

QUOTATION: In the classic nursery rhyme, “Jack and Jill,” the two characters are tasked with “fetch[ing] a pail of water.”

PARAPHRASE: In the nursery rhyme, “Jack and Jill,” the two title characters are racing to get water from the well when Jack trips without warning, hitting his head, and Jill falls down the hill after him.

SUMMARY: In the classic children’s nursery rhyme, “Jack and Jill,” two children are in the midst of completing a domestic chore, gathering water from the well, when an accident happens. First Jack slides down the hill and gets hurt, and then Jill also falls down the hill.

“Quotation, Paraphrase, Summary, and Analysis.” The Writing Center, writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/quotation-paraphrase-summary-and-analysis.