A paraphrase is a restatement of a text using different words. It is often used to clarify the meaning. You can paraphrase key points from your textbook or from your lecture notes. Rewriting the ideas in your own words will help you remember them. You will also have to paraphrase on essay exams and in research papers. It is extremely important to remember that whenever you cite someone else's words or describe someone else's ideas, you must give credit to the original source. If you don't tell where you got the information, you are plagiarizing. This is a very serious offence in American universities. Always cite your source. Here is an example: 'Culture enables us to make sense of our surroundings.' (original) According to Samovar and Porter in Communication Between Cultures, culture helps us to understand our environment. (paraphrase) The clause that introduces the source of your citation can be written in any number of ways. Just be sure to give the author and the title. When you paraphrase, include all the information in the original excerpt. Leave nothing out. In addition to using synonyms, you can make a variety of grammatical changes in the sentence. These suggestions will help you do the paraphrasing exercises: 1. Use synonyms. Example: Understanding other cultures is a complex matter. Understanding other cultures is a complicated matter. 2. Use different word forms (noun→verb, adverb→adjective, etc. ). Be sure to make the necessary grammatical changes in the sentence. Example: Culture is our teacher. Culture teaches us. 3. Change active to passive, or vice versa. Example: Culture is learned. People learn about their culture. 4. Change negative to affirmative, or vice versa. Example: Not one part of our existence is unaffected by culture. Every part of our existence is affected by culture. 5. Do not include your opinion or additional information as part of the paraphrase. 6. Do not attempt to change vocabulary in the areas of technology (computer, microchip), science (calcium, test tube), government (congress, electoral college), education (grade-point average, doctorate), field of study (Anthropology, Linguistics), geography (Europe, mountain), language (noun, sentence), people (Indians, South Americans) , brand names ( Macintosh, Honda) , or for everyday words that have no synonyms ( dictionary, vitamins, culture). 7. Do not use quotation marks. 8. Cite your source as completely as you can (author + title). 9. You do not need to give credit to a source if the information is common knowledge. That is, if you heard something on the evening news that was broadcast across the country and was in all the newspapers, you don't have to cite where you heard about this major event. According to the passage, paraphrasing may help ______.