Question

Paraphrase the following passage. Paris. Poor soul, thy face is much abus'd with tears. Juliet. The tears have got small victory by that; For it was bad enough before their spite. Paris. Thou wrong'st it, more than tears, with that report. Juliet. That is no slander, sir, which is a truth; And what I spake, I spake it to my face. Paris. Thy face is mine, and thou hast slander'd it. Juliet. It may be so, for it is not mine own.

Answer 1

Answer: This could be a way to paraphrase it:

PARIS. You poor soul, your face has shed many tears.

JULIET. My tears have not benefited from it, since my face was already bad when I started to shed them.

PARIS. You are doing more wrong than the tears to your face by saying that.    

JULIET. That is not a calumny, sir, but the truth. What I said, I said it to my face.

PARIS. That face is mine, and you have defamed it.

JULIET. That may be the case, because it is no longer mine.

Explanation: Just to elaborate a little on the answer, it can be added that paraphrasing is formulating an original text in a different way, using alternative words. Since the original text in the example is a poem, you have to try to imitate it to the bext extent that you can, but without rendering it exactly—with the goal of making it more understandable to contemporary audiences. This is a passage from Act 4. Paris is talking to Juliet kindly and with affection, but also condescendingly, and Juliet is replying to him bluntly and with indifference.