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.In fact, the writer seems to be summariz-ing, not paraphrasing.Lasch s main idea is there, but the following points aremissing: % There is a tremendous difference between pre-seventeenth-century andtwenty-first-century perceptions of childhood. % Before the seventeenth century, it was difficult to distinguish betweenthe status and treatment of children and that of servants. % Child rearing has now become of overriding ( obsessive ) importanceto the family. % Children are different from adults in that they are less hardened and lessexperienced.The author of Paraphrase C has done a thorough job of the beginning and theend of Lasch s passage, and evidently left the middle to take care of itself.But aparaphrase cannot be considered a reliable translation of the original text un-less all the supporting ideas are given appropriate emphasis.The second omis-sion is the most serious criticism. USING PARAPHRASE IN YOUR ESSAYS 155Paraphrase D: Comprehensive ParaphraseThough the family has always been the institution responsible forbringing up children, only in recent times has its child-raising function be-come the family s overriding purpose and its reason for being.This strikingshift to the child-centered family has resulted from the gradual realizationthat children have a special, unique personality, easy to influence and easyto hurt, and that they must be treated accordingly.Special treatment forchildren is the norm in our time; but hundreds of years ago, people sawlittle or no difference between childhood and adulthood, and, in fact, thechild s role in the family resembled that of a servant.It was not until theseventeenth century that people began to regard childhood as a distinctivestage of growth.That recognition led them to understand what a powerfulinfluence the family environment must have on the child and to define family as the chief instrument for molding the child s personality andmoral attitudes.EXERCISE 15: Identifying a Good ParaphraseA.Read the passage from Dangerously Addictive, by Peter C.Whybrow,twice.Then read the group of paraphrases that follow.B.Examine each paraphrase and decide whether it conforms to the guide-lines for paraphrasing.C.Ask yourself whether the paraphrase contains any point that is not in theoriginal passage and whether the key points of the original are all clearlypresented in the paraphrase.Does the writer understand the text?The astonishing appetite of the American consumer now determinessome 70 percent of all economic activity in the United States.And yet in thisland of opportunity and material comfort where we enjoy the 12-inch din-ner plate, the 32-ounce soda, and the 64-inch TV screen more and more citi-zens feel time-starved, overworked, and burdened by debt.Epidemic rates ofobesity, anxiety, depression, and family dysfunction are accepted as the norm.It is the paradox of modernity that as choice and material prosperity in-crease, health and personal satisfaction decline.That is now an accepted truth.And yet it is the rare American who manages to step off the hedonic treadmilllong enough to savor his or her good fortune.Indeed, for most of us, regardlessof what we have we want more, and we want it now.The roots of this conun-drum of this addictive striving are found in our evolutionary history.Ascreatures of the natural world, having evolved under conditions of danger andscarcity, we are by instinct reward-seeking animals that discount the future infavor of the immediate present.As a species, we are biologically ill-suited to 156 4 / PARAPHRASING SOURCEShandle the seductive prosperity and material riches of contemporary America.A novel experience, it is both compelling and confusing.PETER C.WHYBROW, from Dangerously Addictive, Chronicle of Higher EducationParaphrase 1An amazing number of Americans take advantage of our wonderfulcountry s opportunities by contributing to the economy.The price that theypay is that they have to work hard and experience normal problems ofillness.All of us know that, in our world of today, we can lead better, moresatisfying lives only if we re willing to accept some sacrifices.We re toobusy improving our circumstances to care.Our goal is to do better andbetter as soon as we can.This is natural as, thousands of years ago, wesurvived by saving for the future.Now, though, we find it difficult to dealwith the amount of choice and comfort available to us.Paraphrase 2Most Americans spend their lives trying to get as much out of theeconomy as they can, putting their earnings into buying more and morethings.As a result, they and their families are miserable.It s hard for us torecognize that we can t have it all.America has to stop being so greedy.And, in fact, we should know better.Our ancestors could tell us that weshould plan for the future instead of wanting everything now.We need tostop being so easily seduced by possessions.Paraphrase 3Seventy percent of the American economy depends on consumer pur-chases.America provides ample opportunities for its citizens to be success-ful, and that success is generally defined by more and bigger possessions.Unfortunately, there is a trade-off Americans pay for this ideal lifestyleby sacrificing personal freedoms like sufficient leisure time and a healthybank account.Their health and their family life deteriorate.Evidently, inour time, you can t be well-off financially and achieve all that s possiblewithout suffering a loss of personal well-being.But most of us can t sparethe time to realize how lucky we are; instead, no evidence of success isever enough.We desperately want to achieve more.This fixation on mate-rial gain comes from a more primitive era when our survival depended onprotecting ourselves from immediate threats and finding sufficient foodand shelter; we learned that it s more important to make the most of ourpresent opportunities than to see what the future might bring.Unused tosuch an array of material goods and experiences, we re not sure what wereally want, but we want to have it now. PARAPHRASING A DIFFICULT TEXT 157Paraphrasing a Difficult TextSince translating another writer s idiom into your own can be difficult, aparaphrase is often written in two stages.1.In your first version, you work out a word-for-word paraphrase, stayingclose to the sentence structure of the original, as if you are writing atranslation.This is the literal paraphrase.2.In your second version, you work from your own literal paraphrase,turning it into a free paraphrase by reconstructing and rephrasing the sen-tences to make them more natural and more characteristic of your ownwriting style.Writing a paraphrase that is faithful to the original text is impossible if youare uncertain of the meaning of any of the words.To write a literal paraphraseof a difficult passage: % Use a dictionary, especially if the passage contains obsolete or archaiclanguage [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]