distort

Anna sat at her kitchen table with a stack of articles , preparing a concise summary for her language class . She knew that simplifying an argument could easily distort the author's intent , so she highlighted key phrases and checked the context carefully . Although the task seemed straightforward , she found it surprisingly difficult to choose which details were essential and which were peripheral . To avoid misrepresenting the original , she wrote provisional sentences and compared them with the source material , adjusting tone and emphasis where necessary . When she finished , she read the summary aloud to a classmate and welcomed critical feedback , because a second perspective often reveals unintended shifts in meaning .