Quintilian appreciates the value of what he calls “paraphrasing” (Latin paraphrasis), not only for its immediate proof that meaning has been understood, but as an exercise that develops the mind for future learning. First they must learn to break up lines of poetry, then to put the meaning into other words, and then to paraphrase more boldly, with freedom to curtail or to adorn provided only that the meaning of the poet remains unchanged. Such paraphrasing is not an easy task even for accomplished teachers and one who has handled it in an adequate fashion will be fit to learn anything.
...more
