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Assignment Writing: Writing Tips

This guide will help you plan, research and write your written assignments.

Here are some tips to help you work smarter, not harder!

How to Paraphrase by Helpful Professor

Five step process for paraphrasing

Writing information in your own words can be tricky, especially if you can see the original text while you are trying to write your own version. Below is a useful process to follow to help ensure your writing is written in your own words. 

Look

Read and understand the information in the original text.

  • This might mean you need to look up words in the dictionary, or talk to someone about it to better understand it. 
  • You might want to read one paragraph at a time so you don't have too much information in your head at once. 

Cover

Now, hide the original information so you can't see it. 

  • Close the book, or minimize the tab on your screen.
  • The idea is that if you can't see the information, you are less likely to copy it. 

Write

It's time to write down what you have understood from the information you have read. 

  • Try not to just recall what you remember reading, but write the ideas down in a way that makes sense to you.

Check

Now that you have written the information in your own words, it's time to look at the original text and check that your writing holds the same meaning. 

  • You aren't trying to compare the words, but the ideas.
  • Ask yourself, does my writing have the same meaning as the original text.
  • If you find it too hard to tell, show your work to someone else. 

Reference

If you're happy with your writing, remember to reference the original using the APA Referencing Guide that was created by Whitireia and WelTec's Library Team. 

Seven step process for paraphrasing

Below is another useful process to follow to help ensure your writing is written in your own words. 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Ask yourself, what do I need to know?

 Use your assignment question to help you determine what you need to find out. 
2

Skim read the original text

 Read the original text, focusing on what it's telling you.
3

Re-read the assignment question

 Re-read your assignment question to make sure the information in the text addresses the task.
4

Re-read the text and note down the key points

 Re-read the original text, and make notes of the key points that help you address your assignment question.
5

Put the text away

 Hide the original text so you can't see it while you are writing your own version.
6

Write the key points in your own words

 Write down what you have learnt using your own words. 
7

Check your writing for accuracy

 Check that your ideas match the ideas that you have collected in your notes, and in the original text. 

Take a moment

 

Take a moment to give this process a go for yourself. 

 

  1. Find a text you want to use
  2. Follow either the 5 step or the 7 step process above to see how they work for you.

Paraphrasing one author several times in the same paragraph

Does you whole paragraph come from just one author?  

Sometimes you may find that a whole paragraph is based on information from just one author. The question is, how do you cite this so that it clear that all the ideas are from the same author? 

Take a look at the examples in the document below. 

Take a moment

Take a moment to try this fun paraphrasing activity. Paraphrasing means to write something in your own words.

 

Calm seas do not make a skillful sailor

  • See if you can paraphrase the above proverb without using the following words:  
    • water
    • boat
    • sailor
    • weather 

The trick is, try to avoid simply moving words around.

Think about the meaning of the proverb, and see if you can write that in a different way.  

What is referencing and why do I need to do it?

It's really important to show where all your information came from.

Referencing is the process of citing material you have used in your academic writing. There are many different referencing styles. Whitireia and WelTec uses APA Referencing (7th edition) which is the referencing style created by the American Psychological Association.

What is APA Referencing?

There are two parts to a reference.

  • In-text citation. When you quote or paraphrase / summarise an author, you must acknowledge their work in the text of your assignment. This is brief information that consists of the author's surname (or the name of the group author) and the year of publication
  • Reference list. The in-text citation directs your reader to an alphabetical list of the sources you have used.  It is at the end of your assignment and contains the full details of each source 

 

Check out the APA Referencing Guide created by Whitireia and WelTec's Library Team.

Useful words for citing authors

Sometimes it can be hard to think of different words to use to cite authors in your writing.

University of Portsmouth provide a list of words you can use. 

What is plagiarism?

Image credit: Dr Evil Austin Powers. https://makeameme.org/meme/copying-information 

 

This short interactive module is designed to give you a brief overview of what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.  

 

You will be asked to log in to Whitireia or Weltec Moodle. To access the module:

This module was created by the Tūāpapa team and can also be found on the Tūāpapa Online Study Hub.

Understanding plagiarism by YSJ ADD

Image citation: Possessed Photography. (2019, September 8). Rerouting [Photograph]. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/0La7MwJhSyo