2.7 Identifying Effective Paraphrases
Exercises
Read the original piece of text below, taken from the book The Google Story by David A. Vise (2005, p.3):
Not since Gutenberg invented the modern printing press more than 500 years ago, making books and scientific tomes affordable and widely available to the masses, has any new invention empowered individuals, and transformed access to information, as profoundly as Google.
Compare these three attempts at paraphrasing this quote and identify which attempt is acceptable paraphrasing.
ATTEMPT A: Vise (2005) states that Google has revolutionized the information world by providing access to information through the internet. Vise notes that Google is the most radical information development since Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press.
ATTEMPT B: David argues the most important invention that has affected access to information since Gutenberg invented the modern printing press and made books affordable and widely available is Google. Google is an invention that has empowered individuals and transformed access to information around the world.
ATTEMPT C: Vise (2005) writes that since Gutenberg invented modern presses more than 500 years ago, books and science books have been inexpensive and widely available to the general public, and all inventions have given individual rights and changed access to information, just like Google.
Attributions
Material on this page has been adapted from
University of Dublin Library. (2022). Academic integrity – Referencing, citation & avoiding plagiarism: Paraphrasing explained. University College Dublin. Retrieved May 31, 2022 from https://libguides.ucd.ie/academicintegrity/paraphrasing CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
References
Vise, D. A. (2005). The Google story. Bantam.