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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. This attitude should reflect 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 suffer further unless Marconi rapidly sorted out its finances.
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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WHERE YOU MAY GET IT WRONG
WHEN WRITING ENGLISH ParaPhrasIng
IMPORTANT NOTE
The symbol () is used in English for “incorrect,” but some European languages use it for
“correct.” The 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 The writer of the following paragraph fails to set orthographic boundaries between the two voices in the quotation from the CEO:
The CEO explains: “You check that from time to time, you know. And then you say
“wow, they have purchased a new machine.” That’s what I do not want to happen.” The CEO explains: “You check that from time to time, you know. And then you say,
‘wow, they have purchased a new machine.’ That’s what I do not want to happen.’ ” R 3.25 There 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 different places. Third, 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 firm as one that “engage in product-market innovation, undertake somewhat risky ventures, and are first to come up with “proactive”
innovations, beating competitors to the punch” (p. 771). Q
For Miller (1983: 771), entrepreneurial firms “engage in product-market innovation, undertake somewhat risky ventures, and are first 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 first were there in the original text or they are of your own making.
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3.26 This 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. Third, 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 “financially healthy” (see Lennart, 2002: Mchugh & Brotherton, 2000; Randel, 1998). Q
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