Much of the benefit will come from your comparing
your version, as Franklin did his, with the original. When you perceive
that you have fallen short, you should consider the respects wherein your
inferiority lies--and should make another attempt, and yet another, and
another. When you perceive that in any way you have surpassed the
original, you should feel a just pride in your achievement--and should
resolve that next time your cause for pride shall be greater still. Even
after you have desisted from formal paraphrasing, you should cling to the
habit, formed at this time, of observing any notable felicities in
whatever you read and of comparing them with the expression you yourself
would likely have employed.
EXERCISE - Paraphrasing
1. Paraphrase the editorial in Appendix 1. You should improve upon the
original. Keep trying until you do.
2. Paraphrase the second paragraph in Burke's speech (Appendix 2). Burke
lacked the cheap tricks of the ordinary orator, but his discussions were
based upon a comprehensive knowledge of facts, a sympathetic understanding
of human nature, a vast depth and range of thought, and a well-meditated
political philosophy.
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