PRACTICAL GUIDE
3.6 If and whether are interchangeable after reporting verbs like ask, want to know,
wonder, etc., but whether conveys slightly greater doubt: Parana (2008: 30) said, “Who will live there?”
Parana asked whether there was anyone willing to settle down in Somalia.
3.7 he use of that after reporting verbs say, add, note, etc., is optional. Also note the shift in the deictic this:
Parana (2008: 30) said, “his is not the author I recommended to you.” Parana (2008) said Graham Fairclough was not the writer he had told his students to read.
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3.8 When paraphrasing, you also need to change the inversion of subject and reporting verb in quoted questions starting with where, why, what, who, when and how back to a statement word order (subject + verb):
Parana (2008: 30) said, “Why have the multinationals invested so heavily in emerging markets?” Parana (2008) wanted to know why the multinationals poured so much money into the emerging markets.
3.9 here is no inversion of subject and reporting verb when the question is about the subject:
Parana (2008: 30) said, “Who invests in emerging markets?” Parana (2008) asked which irms invested in emerging markets. Parana (2008: 30) said, “Which irm makes these parts?” Parana (2008) asked which irm made those parts.
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3.10 You cannot use more than one source for one quotation unless the quoted statement has multiple authors. For instance, the multiple sourcing in the following quote is unacceptable:
“We are unanimous that the economy is in the throes of harsh and tough recession and that bad times are ahead,” British analysts said. Q
3.11 But multiple sourcing is possible if you were quoting a book by several authors or a statement signed by these analysts:
“We are unanimous that the economy is in the throes of harsh and tough recession and that bad times are ahead,” British analysts said in a written statement. “We are unanimous that the economy is in the throes of harsh and tough recession and that bad times are ahead,” Parana and Darana (2008: 30) said.
3.12 It is possible to have multiple sourcing when paraphrasing: Most British analysts agree that the economy is sufering from recession and that the
future does not look that promising. Parana (2003) and Darana (2008) agree that the economy is sufering from recession and that the future does not look that promising.
3.13 You can use prepositions instead of reporting verbs for both quoting and paraphrasing:
For Parana (2008: 30), “he car industry has lost its shine and it will take many years for it to recover.” For Parana (2008), such talk just proves that U.S.’s leadership is intent on domination.
3.14 Note that paraphrasing gives room to add context. If used properly, this will help you to shed more light on the context and bring the paraphrased material much closer to your own voice:
Parana (2008), director for adult education and literacy for Iowa, said that there had been strong interest in the on-demand program among disabled people, older adults and people who need lexibility as they look for work.
3.15 It is important in paraphrasing to have consistency of the tense of the verb: Parana (2008) said he was told that he would not be promoted because he did not
graduate from high school.
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A quotation of the above paraphrase could be: “I am told I will not get a better position since I lack a degree,” Parana (2008: 30) said.
3.16 he following versions are also possible: Parana (2008) says that while he was able to become good friends with courtroom
opponents, Mr. Miller was the exception. And while Parana (2008) previously succeeded in limiting consumers’ rights to sue inancial institutions, he says he now favors ofering that remedy in certain circumstances.
3.17 As in quoting, the position of the source and the reporting verb varies: One violation occurred over the portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir
that is controlled by Pakistani forces, according to Parana’s (2008) account. According to Parana’s (2008) account, one violation occurred over the portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that is controlled by Pakistani forces.
One violation occurred over the portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that is controlled by Pakistani forces, Parana (2008) said. Parana (2008) said one violation occurred over the portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that is controlled by Pakistani forces.
3.18 Note that we do not separate the reporting verb from the rest of the paraphrase by a comma when the source and the reporting verb come at the beginning of the paraphrase. When they occur at the end of the paraphrase, the comma is necessary:
Parana (2008) said one violation occurred over the portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that is controlled by Pakistani forces. One violation occurred over the portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that is controlled by Pakistani forces, Parana (2008) said.
3.19 As in quoting, the source and the reporting verb may break a sentence into two parts. Note how they are separated by two commas from the rest of the sentence:
A husband and wife, Parana (2008) said, were both ired the same day from Goldman Sachs. In a cascading inancial crisis, Parana (2008) said, a pastor can discard a sermon prescribed by the liturgical calendar and directly address the anxiety in the air.
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3.20 You can add to the paraphrased author relevant information in diferent ways. Note the following:
In an interview, Parana (2008) said that until the recent market turmoil, he did not fully appreciate how much risk Wall Street had assumed and how much damage its practices could inlict on ordinary Americans.
In a book he wrote with Professor George A. Akerlof of the University of California,
Berkeley, Parana (2008) argues that current circumstances call for a couple of intermediate targets.
3.21 It is possible to have one source and two reporting verbs in the same sentence when paraphrasing:
Parana (2008), a former S.E.C. commissioner, said the amendment he won was troubling, adding that it could block the S.E.C. from punishing a credit-rating agency that consistently issued unreliable ratings.
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3.22 It is possible to support your paraphrase with a quotation following it immediately: Parana (2008: 30), in the interview, acknowledged his full-speed-ahead approach. “Any
job I do, I work hard at and I try to succeed at,” he said.
In the preface, Parana (2008: 30) gives a searing critique of what he calls the “blinkered and disjointed pre-war planning for Iraq’s reconstruction” and the botched expansion of the program from a modest initiative to improve Iraqi services to a multibillion- dollar enterprise.
3.23 You can use a variety of reporting verbs when paraphrasing. But remember, the choice of the appropriate reporting verb is important. Reporting verbs express your attitude as an author. his attitude should relect that of the source as far as possible. Here are a few examples:
Parana (2008) denies putting any pressure on the banks to demand extra guarantees for the loan.
Parana (2008) alleges that senior executives told their employees to destroy thousands of documents within days of notice.
City analysts (2008) predicted the shares would sufer further unless Marconi rapidly sorted out its inances.
Parana (2008) demands the return of foreign investors to the region and has hinted that the town hall might issue new regulations to make that possible.
Parana (2008) questioned the validity of the Monterey agreement. EXERCISE
Here are some samples of the pitfalls learners usually fall into when quoting or paraphrasing in English.
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IMPORTANT NOTE
he symbol ( ) is used in English for “incorrect,” but some European languages use it for “correct.” he symbol ( ) is used in English for “correct,” but in some European languages it is used opposite the English way, i.e. for “incorrect.” Readers are also asked to note that the presence of the symbol ( ) in this book does not always mean that the sample is grammatically wrong. ( ) might mean that the version is in need of rewriting. Similarly, the symbol ( ) may
be taken to mean that the version, according to the author, is the most suitable and reasonable. Some of the corrections are what the author sees as better versions, suggestions or rewrites.
3.24 he writer of the following paragraph fails to set orthographic boundaries between the two voices in the quotation from the CEO:
he CEO explains: “You check that from time to time, you know. And then you say “wow, they have purchased a new machine.” hat’s what I do not want to happen.”
he CEO explains: “You check that from time to time, you know. And then you say, ‘wow, they have purchased a new machine.’ hat’s what I do not want to happen.’ ” R
3.25 here are three problems with the following quotation. First, the verbs engage and understand do not agree with their subject (see Chapter 4). Second, we have the date of the publication of the source’s work and the page number in two diferent places. hird, we are not sure whether “proactive” as a scare quote (see 2.15) belongs to the source or the writer:
Miller (1983) thinks of an entrepreneurial irm as one that “engage in product-market innovation, undertake somewhat risky ventures, and are irst to come up with “proactive” innovations, beating competitors to the punch” (p. 771). Q For Miller (1983: 771), entrepreneurial irms “engage in product-market innovation, undertake somewhat risky ventures, and are irst to come up with “proactive” innovations, beating competitors to the punch”. (Emphasis in the original) R
NOTE In academic writing, you will need to say whether placing “proactive” between double inverted commas and italicizing irst were there in the original text or they are of your own making.
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3.26 his is a sentence which is indeed very hard to read. Part of the ambiguity is due to the wrong use of quotation marks. First, we are not sure whether the structures between double inverted commas are used for attribution, because at the end of the sentence the writer cites several authors. Second, note the confusion which unhealthy organizations causes where, besides the round brackets, the writer adds double inverted commas. hird, it is recommended that you separate the dependent clause with a complex sentence marker from the independent clause by a comma (see 7.4). Fourth, the sentence is too long (58 words). In short, the sentence needs rephrasing:
Hence, when organizations are “healthy” i.e. work enables meaning, structure, identity, self-respect of employees as well as material awards (Watson, 1995) the working situation and the workplace are “spices of life” rather than “kisses of death” (“unhealthy organizations”) for individuals and organizations that also organizations may also become “inancially healthy” (see Lennart, 2002: Mchugh & Brotherton, 2000; Randel, 1998). Q