Lesson 3 | Pressing in deeper: author's tone, probing questions and restating
Ten ways to say the same thing
A fun way to begin thinking about writing a paraphrase is to put your creative writer’s hat on. Try this (maybe not-so-simple) simple exercise. Restate the following sentence ten different ways: He took my pen.
He snatched my marker.
He made off with my writing utensil.
He absconded with my stylus.
He borrowed my ballpoint.
He pinched my bic.
He seized my quill.
He pocketed my gel pen.
He nabbed my nib.
He grabbed my sharpie.
He pilfered my Parker.
While this exercise may illustrate some basic creativity, writing a good paraphrase entails far more than getting a good thesaurus and changing a few key words. We must take into consideration tone of voice, point(s) of emphasis, and context, among other factors that give shape to the meaning of a text. Moreover, we need to give attention to the use of idiom and figures of speech—both in the biblical text as well as our own restatement.
Further still, the aim of a paraphrase is not simply a restatement with different words but a clear expression of your understanding of a text. Let’s take the same exercise and develop it a bit more. Write ten paraphrases of the following sentence: Pete played a lively tune.
Pete’s music was really upbeat.
Pete strummed a mean guitar.
Pete really tickled the ivories with that song.
Pete had us all tapping our toes with his jig.
The music just jumped from Pete’s instrument.
Pete sure had good rhythm on that piece.
Pete rocked the house with his song.
They couldn’t help but sing along when Pete played.
That was no dirge Pete hammered out.
The melody on Pete’s song really moved along.
To be clear, all of these sentences do not mean precisely the same thing. There is significant variation in emphasis and important details. Nevertheless, they do capture the same basic idea expressed in the original. As you progress toward writing paraphrases of the texts you are studying, the goal will be accurate, appropriate paraphrases (that reflect the author’s intended meaning), well-stated in your own words.