Paraphrasing for beginners

When we start studying, we are often too tentative about showing our own opinion in writing, that we hide our hand completely by using the words of others. We quote. A lot.

Ah, but we need to know that we have understood what others have written by paraphrasing our source. For example, lets assume I want use the glossary definition of career from the Careers New Zealand (CNZ) in the Tertiary Career Development Benchmarks, which reads as:

"The sequence and variety of work roles, paid and unpaid, that a person undertakes throughout a lifetime. More broadly, 'career' embraces life roles in the home and the community, leisure activities, learning and work. Work, learning and life, though sometimes distinct, are closely intertwined. Everyone has a career" (Careers New Zealand, 2016, p. 38).

I would paraphrase that entry to show that I understand the 'essence' of what CNZ was trying to say, while citing CNZ as the source, but dropping the page number as I am not quoting verbatim from the original. I might post the following as my forum post entry:

A career is what we all do. It includes the paid or voluntary work we do throughout our lifespan, encompassing all our intertwined roles as a family member, as a student, in our time off, as an employee, and as a member of our communities (Careers New Zealand, 2016).

Much better. And it sounds like me.

Sam

• Reference: Careers New Zealand (2016). Tertiary Career Development Benchmarks. https://www.careers.govt.nz/assets/Benchmarks/Career-Development-Benchmarks-Tertiary.pdf