Paraphrasing Enhances Learning

Each Monday my second-grade teacher wrote five words on the board. These words stayed on the board all week until Friday when we each had to turn in five index cards—one card with our own dictionary style definition for each assigned word.

Initially this project was really fun. I loved alphabetizing the cards as my collection grew (I think I was destined to work in academia…or at least an office with file folders). But as the year progressed, the novelty of the project wore off. And in order to finish my homework as quickly as possible, I started simply copying the definition directly from my Webster’s student dictionary. I never got in trouble. With 20 seven year-olds turning in five index cards a week, I strongly suspect my teacher was more interested in completion than quality, but now I’m pretty mad at myself about this.

My parents still have my index card dictionary. They also have the index card dictionary my younger brother made two years later with the same teacher. These two boxes serve to prove one basic claim we in the Writing Center often make to students: paraphrasing is better than direct quotation.

My brother’s definitions are funny (in a way that only a second-grader’s concept of words like “enormous” and “mundane” can be). They are creative and thoughtful and really enjoyable to read several decades after their creation. About half of mine are similarly entertaining, but it’s quite easy to determine which definitions are mine and which are plagiarized.

I realize that an academic paper is a different assignment than one assigned to second graders. But the basic arguments for why your own words will serve you better than another writer’s words are the same. Let’s break them down:

Engagement: 

Just as a seven year-old’s unique definition of words tend to be more entertaining than those found in published dictionaries, you are able to bring a unique perspective to the information you share with your reader when you formulate it yourself.

Retention: 

I assume most of my elementary classmates do not still have their index-card dictionaries, but the point of the assignment wasn’t actually to create some kind of family heirloom; the point was to teach us words. The definitions I crafted myself were much easier to remember than those I simply copied out on the index cards. The same is true with information you paraphrase: it becomes better absorbed into your own mind.

Usage: 

The retention part feeds into the usage. If I could remember what a word meant and how to use it, I was much more likely to use it and add it to my vocabulary. Similarly, when you paraphrase information in your writing, you more accurately and specifically employ it to meet your own needs. Of course I’m not talking about taking something out of context or misrepresenting information, but paraphrasing allows you to shape the delivery of information in a way that is impossible with direct quotations.

There are times when you will need to quote directly. If you are commenting on another writer’s word choices, for example, it might be best to simply include the phrasing exactly. But in general trust the power of your own words to get you where you need to go. 

Kacy Walz is a Minnesota native currently living in St. Louis, MO. She has been a Writing Instructor at Walden since 2016 and spends most of her free time trying to complete her PhD, seeking out adventure, and playing with her puppy dog.

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