The difference between rephrasing and summarizing is that summaries are generally shorter than the original. When rephrasing a longer idea, more detail is retained and written down. This makes it even more important to find ways to say this information in a different way than the original author did. You will be presented with a number of long paragraphs that you have seen or heard before, and you will need to rephrase them such that they have all the original details and meaning, yet are written with different vocabulary and grammatical structure. Look at the example.
Rephrasing
Original:
In the 1950s, there was a huge fad, some say the biggest of all time, which revolutionized marketing in the toy industry. In the late 1950s, over 25 million hula hoops were sold within only a few months. People thought this would continue forever and many people put a lot of money into their development and promotion. Unfortunately for them, a year later, sales were practically non-existent. People were incredibly interested in the hula hoop, but it was a toy that had a single purpose and once people had their fun with it, they put it away.
Rephrase:
In the middle of the 20th century, one of the biggest fads ever appeared that changed how toys were sold. The hula hoop was developed and promoted such that companies sold over 25 million units within months. This rush of sales reduced to nearly zero by the years end, but as the hula hoop was designed for one function, it was not a product that people used over the long-term.
Exercise
Please open the exercise to continue.