{"id":3583,"date":"2016-07-12T08:27:29","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T15:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=3583"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:43:11","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:43:11","slug":"paraphrase-toefl-integrated-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/paraphrase-toefl-integrated-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Paraphrase in TOEFL Integrated Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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TOEFL Writing Task 1 is challenging, but it can be beat! Magoosh has put together a comprehensive TOEFL Integrated Writing guide<\/a>. And in this post, you can learn even more about the specific skill of paraphrasing in this first TOEFL Writing task.<\/p>\n

The TOEFL Integrated Writing passage stays in front of you on the screen. So copying the original wording can be easy–so easy you can do it by accident.\u00a0You’ll be mentally tired because you’re near the end of the TOEFL exam. The original words in the passage will be right in front of you, and you may unthinkingly copy them.<\/p>\n

To get a good score on TOEFL Writing Task 1, you need to paraphrase the passage, not copy it. The trick here is to focus on the ideas in the passage, not the exact wording. But how can you do this? There’s a mental exercise that can help you. Below, I’ll walk you through a useful\u00a0approach to paraphrasing in TOEFL Integrated Writing.<\/p>\n

Focus on the noun phrases and verb phrases<\/h2>\n

Noun phrases and verb phrases carry most of the important information in a passage. (See the post “Reviewing Phrases<\/a>” for more information on noun and verb phrase structure.) Nouns and verbs represent\u00a0the key ideas you need to paraphrase. And remember, you really are just paraphrasing ideas<\/em>; in TOEFL Integrated Writing, you don’t need to paraphrase whole\u00a0sentences from the passage. And you want to avoid paraphrasing long, complicated phrases. By focusing on the nouns and verbs, you can see the most basic ideas in a passage expressed can be reduced to individual words and small phrases.<\/p>\n

Below, I will show you the reading passage from a TOEFL Integrated Writing Practice Task<\/a>\u00a0here on the Magoosh TOEFL Blog. (And for one additional free TOEFL Integrated Writing practice task, see Magoosh’s complete guide to TOEFL Writing samples<\/a>.) I have identified the noun phrases and verb phrases that carry the most important information, and I’ve put them in\u00a0bold<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

TOEFL Integrated Writing passage: The key nouns and verbs<\/h2>\n

\"Paraphrase<\/p>\n

The \u201ccomics medium\u201d<\/strong> includes newspaper<\/strong> comic strips<\/strong> such as Dennis the Menace\u00a0<\/em>and comic books<\/strong> such as Spider-Man.<\/em> Scholars around the world agree that comics are a uniquely American art <\/strong>form.<\/p>\n

The first <\/strong>commercially successful comic strip<\/strong> was Hogan\u2019s Alley<\/em><\/strong>, a comic strip from the 1890s. Hogan\u2019s Alley<\/em> featured the Yellow Kid, the world\u2019s first popular cartoon character. This strip and its character marked the beginning of comics and was American in every respect. Set in a low-income neighborhood in New York City,\u00a0Hogan\u2019s Alley<\/em> dealt with the lives of <\/strong>ordinary Americans<\/strong>. It was written and drawn by American cartoonist<\/strong> R.F. Outcault. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, two famous and influential American publishers<\/strong>, printed the comic strip in their newspapers.<\/p>\n

The first popular comic book<\/strong> in the world was also American. Action Comics<\/em><\/strong>, a series that is still in print today, was initially released in 1938. It featured Superman<\/strong>, the world\u2019s first superhero. Like Hogan\u2019s Alley<\/em>, Superman<\/em> was American-created<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Americans invented comic strips, and Americans have exported their unique art form to the rest of the world. Japanese comics<\/strong>, called manga<\/em>, were inspired by<\/strong> the comics that Americans<\/strong> brought to Japan after World War II. Popular European comics<\/strong> series such as Smurfs<\/em> and Asterix<\/em> are influenced by<\/strong> Disney comic books. Today, American<\/strong>-created Disney comic characters are more popular in Europe than ever.<\/p>\n

The comics medium started in America. While it has spread around the world, even comics that aren\u2019t created by Americans have an undeniable American influence. This is why so many art and literature scholars recognize the comic strip as a truly American art form.<\/p>\n

How to select the most important noun and verb phrases<\/h2>\n

Think of the key phrases in the reading as\u00a0a simple outline of the passage. If you take notes on the passage, the key phrases should be enough to show all of the most important ideas. In note format, the key phrases above would look like this:<\/p>\n