Paraphrase If material is quoted directly from a source, then, obviously, the quoted material must be placed in quotation marks. However, even if material is not quoted directly, the original author must be given credit. The trickiest case in fair use of sources is the paraphrase. Often people think that changing a few words here and there makes the work their own; this is not correct. Below see A. an original passage, B. an intended paraphrase that is actually plagiarism, and C. a paraphrase that is not plagiarism. Reasons are included for B and C. A. From The New Yorker, 2/17/01 “Examined Life, What Stanley H. Kaplan taught us about the S.A.T.” By Malcolm Gladwell §"Today, Hawkes's anti-Semitism seems absurd, but he was by no means the last person to look to aptitude tests as a means of separating ambition from brains. The great selling point of the S.A. T. has always been that it promises to reveal whether the high-school senior with a 3.0 G.P.A. is someone who could have done much better if he had been properly educated or someone who is already at the limit of his abilities. We want to know that information because, like Hawkes, we prefer naturals to grinds: we think that people who achieve based on vast reserves of innate ability are somehow more promising and more worthy than those who simply work hard." (Gladwell 92)
§B.
A “plagiarphrase”:
Today, Hawkes's anti-Semitism seems crazy, but he was by no means the last person to use aptitude tests to separate ambition from brains. We want to know that information because, like Hawkes, we prefer natural talent: we think that people who achieve based on a lot of innate ability are somehow more promising and more worthy than those who simply work hard. The appeal of the S.A. T. has always been that it promises to show whether the high-school senior with a 3.0 G.P.A. could have done much better if he had been properly educated or is already at the limit of his abilities. §*This use only changes words here and there and rearranges and §offers no citation--either reason is enough to cause this use to be plagiarism.
C. §An
acceptable paraphrase:
Hawkes’s anti-Semitic use of the S.A.T. is, thankfully, outdated, but we still use tests to pick out the “naturals.” In our society, we value natural ability more than hard work. Because of this societal preference, we also value a test such as the SAT that undertakes to tell us who has the most natural ability, that is, to tell us which students have the most potential to achieve (Gladwell 92).
*The
student has presented the information accurately and in her own
words, has quoted the key term "naturals," and has
included a citation.
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