Paraphrasing and summary are crucial aspects of writing analysis, but despite their importance, the two are often mixed up. The main difference between summarizing and paraphrasing is the way you present the information given in the text. When paraphrasing, you as the writer are taking the authors ideas directly from the text as they are written. Though the paraphrased text is the same idea, it is often shorter than the original because it is a condensed version of the original writer’s thoughts. The summary is a bit different, you are still explaining a text that has already been written but you are putting it into your own words. This is why you have to cite your source when you are paraphrasing but not when summarizing, because the summary is completely your own thoughts. Summary is important because it shows that you spent time reading the text and analyzing so you are able to express it in the way you viewed it. Though the two are different from one another, they are both important to writing, especially academic writing. If you are trying to get a reader to listen to something you are expressing through writing, summary is a good way to give background on a subject they may not know of, and in addition to your own personal view of the text, paraphrasing directly from the source backs up what you’re saying to take any possible view of bias out of the question.
In the TED Talk by Chimamanda Adichie, the Nigerian Novelist discusses how people view ways of life from around the world that are not their own, and the dangers of not being able to open our eyes to see everyone’s true stories. Her idea of hearing “a single story” as she puts it, and basing the way we look at a specific person or group of people because of a single story, is a viewpoint that we need to move away from. This is something that is not discussed much even though it ties into so many different parts of our lives; literature, political issues, personal relationships, world views. The way we see people and think about their stories affects the way we treat other people, so why are we so quick to listen to a story and believe it? Adichie uses her trip to Mexico as an example. She traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico, and viewed real people the way that they really live their lives. In the media, we are constantly bombarded with other people’s views and opinions that we accept them as our own before we even know the full story. The example of Mexican immigration is an excellent example of this that many people can relate to. Adichie stated, “So that is how to create a single story, show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” In saying this, she is expressing how important it is to not be so quick to see an entire group of people just because of one way someone has seen them as.
Adichie has adopted this value into her way of life, using her influences in literature to push this idea of the single-story viewpoint. This is a way of looking at people that I hope someday because of people spreading their word, their stories, more people are able to use in their own ways of looking at others. A powerful quote from Adichie that showed me how the views of other people we have affect them,“Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.” This exemplifies the strength of a story about others, the effects it has on one’s culture or way of life, and puts it into a compare and contrast viewpoint that could be beneficial in getting others to think about it in a similar manner.
