If you paraphrase a famous quote (for example: I f*ck, therefore I am), are there single, double, or no quotes at all? I've searched (seemingly forever) and found all three. To make matters worse and because I obviously like to torture myself, it's in dialogue.*sighs* If anyone can help, I'd truly appreciate it.
Paraphrasing and Quotation Marks
- Thread starter evangaline
- Start date
Not an expert on this, but I'd say no quotes at all. If you feel like you have to attribute, you could put it in the dialogue tag, e.g. "I f*ck, therefore I am," said John, mangling Shakespeare.
A paraphrase is not a quote, so there should not be quotation marks. Using quotation marks creates the impression that it is a quote, and that would be misinformation in the case of a paraphrase.
No quotes for paraphrasing. Quotations imply direct reproduction of something someone else said or wrote. The Purdue OWL site has a very good section on paraphrasing and quoting.
If you do paraphrase someone else's statement or material, you do still need to provide attribution.
caw
If you do paraphrase someone else's statement or material, you do still need to provide attribution.
caw
Myself, I wouldn't feel compelled to attribute "I think, therefore I am"; I'd expect readers to understand the reference.
Side note: I don't think "I fuck, therefore I am" is technically a paraphrase--you're changing the meaning, not expressing the original thought in different words. "Parody" or "caricature" comes closer, but neither of those seems quite right, either. Is there a term to describe specifically what evangaline is doing here?
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2011
- Messages
- 11,766
- Reaction score
- 12,242
- Location
- Atherton Tablelands
- Website
- snailseyeview.medium.com
Blackbird - I guess it's not paraphrasing but an actual change of the original quote. I don't know if there's a specific name for it.
WWWalt - I agree w/your assessment. The more I searched, the more I found 'paraphrase' didn't exactly fit the definition. I suppose 'rephrase' might be a better term. And as I mentioned, the various examples I found were all over the place with double, single, or no quotes.
Helix - *g* Yep, the actual dialogue by the character is, " It’s part of who you are. I f*ck, therefore I am, to paraphrase Descartes." I might have to reword it now and change 'paraphrase' to something else.
Thanks, everyone, for your input!
WWWalt - I agree w/your assessment. The more I searched, the more I found 'paraphrase' didn't exactly fit the definition. I suppose 'rephrase' might be a better term. And as I mentioned, the various examples I found were all over the place with double, single, or no quotes.
Helix - *g* Yep, the actual dialogue by the character is, " It’s part of who you are. I f*ck, therefore I am, to paraphrase Descartes." I might have to reword it now and change 'paraphrase' to something else.
Thanks, everyone, for your input!
How about 'I fuck, therefore I am, to disingenuate Descartes'. 
(I was pretty sure 'disingenuate' wasn't a proper word, so you'd have a kind of malapropism, but when I googled it, to my surprise I see folks are using it.)
(I was pretty sure 'disingenuate' wasn't a proper word, so you'd have a kind of malapropism, but when I googled it, to my surprise I see folks are using it.)If you have in any way altered the original material for quotation, you need to make such alteration clear. If you've omitted something, that can be indicated by ellipsis. If you need to add a word or phrase for contextual clarification, you can do that in parentheses. But if you are altering the overall syntax of the original material, that becomes, by definition, a paraphrase. Again, look at the Purdue OWL grammar/style site for an excellent explanation of how to do this.
caw