Remember that paraphrasing can really help you make your arguments in your paper, and in general you should use direct quotations sparingly.
To paraphrase well:
- You should capture the essence of the argument, but it should be in your own words
- Rewrite sentences and sentence structure, don't just use a thesaurus to replace some words
- Read the passage you are going to paraphrase, then look away for 10 seconds and think about something else. Then, without looking back at the original, write down what the passage conveys.
No matter if you quote or paraphrase, remember to cite the sources you used.
