“No one knows exactly when a given story originated, but it is evident that some stories circulated orally for centuries before they began to be collected and written down (Haddawy XI).”
Introduction to The Arabian Nights, trans. by Haddawy, New York, Norton & Company: 1990.
- Not a single person knew where a particular tale stemmed from, but it is obvious that stories were told from the mouth for centuries before they were written down and stored.
- Nobody knows entirely when or where a story derived from but it is clear that some stories were told by mouth for centuries before they were put in writings.
- No man or woman knows completely when a tale emerged and originated but it can be apparent that a couple of stories spread around orally for centuries prior to writing and gathering different stories.
“This was one of those moments of clarity: of all the work I’d done in school, only a fraction was meaningful work (Watters 2).”
Claim Your Domain–And Own Your Online Presence by Audrey Watters: 2015
- Previously mentioned was a time of intelligibility: out of all the work I’ve finished in school, only a portion was valuable work.
- This was a short time of lucidness: out of every single work I ever created in school barely a third of it was important work.
- This was a little while of sophistication: out of all the assignments I’ve completed, hardly any was considered purposeful work.
Reflection:
This paraphrasing activity sparked my intellectual curiosity, allowing me to read the passages in a different light. When I first read the assigned passages, I felt as though I just simply “read.” After paraphrasing the same sentence three times, I had a better understanding of the true meaning behind the passage. When I went to pick out passages, I chose sentences that sounded purposeful and interesting. From this exercise, I learned that I have my own interpretation of writing. I was able to express my own interpretation through another author’s writings yet it still conveyed the same meaning, yet it was my own. I felt like Haddawy had more difficult passages to paraphrase than Watters because his diction was more creative and unique while Watters used common language. Overall, I really enjoyed this exercise and I learned that paraphrasing is an excellent skill to help you understand how much power words hold as well as how much power a writer holds.
