Pretend you are writing an essay about gustatory pleasures and have decided to use the following passage on page 54 from “God or Gorilla” by Matthew Chapman:

Having said that, I suppose I should declare my bias from the start. My great-great-grandfather was Charles Darwin. This was not something I thought much about growing up in England. Evolution was fully accepted. Darwin was a historical figure. If I did think about my connection to him, it was only negatively. The pressure to succeed academically and the unlikelihood of doing so in comparison to my ancestor was such that I decided to turn my back on academia and pursue a course of willful ignorance. When I finally moved to Hollywood in the early Eighties, I had gone about as far as I could in that direction. (54)

You have several ways to incorporate the text.

1. In your own words, summarize the passage as best you can. Include a citation.
2. In your own words, paraphrase the passage as best you can. Include a citation.
3. Rewrite your summary or paraphrase to include a quotation from Chapman’s passage.

As refresher, here are some definitions you should know:

1. Quote: to repeat or copy the exact words without alterations.
2. Paraphrase: to restate a passage using other words but to record a passage’s important details.
3. Summarize: to restate a passage using other words while condensing it into its main ideas.

Works Cited

Chapman, Matthew. “God or Gorilla: A Darwin Descendent at the Dover Monkey Trial.”Harpers Magazine Feb. 2006: 54-63.