: Re: Paraphrasing this part I want to paraphrase a sentence (as opposed to quoting), but I can not seem get any words in my mind for this part. What methods can I use to find ideas and methods

@Kevin153

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Some methods for finding your own words for others' ideas:

Summarize the important ideas. Here are a few questions that can help summarize a passage:

What is the net effect of the actions or events in the passage?
What category or categories fit the items mentioned in the passage?
What conclusion can you draw from the facts laid out in the passage?

Follow the references. If the author cites where the ideas in the passage come from, read the reference material. This may give you additional ideas for how to phrase what you want to say. At very least, it will give you an example of how the author did what you are trying to do (incorporate someone else's ideas in their own words).

Switch viewpoints. Think of people who would be affected differently by the ideas in the passage.

Think of at least one person who would benefit.
Think of at least one person who might be harmed.
How would each express the ideas in the passage?
What opinions would each person have of those ideas?

Explore your own reactions.

Which ideas in the passage do you most strongly react to?
What is your reaction?
What is it about you that contributes to your reactions? What do you care most deeply about that is most affected by these ideas?

Test for stickiness. Set passage aside for an hour or a day. Try to rewrite it from memory. What you write may end up too close or to far from what you're trying to paraphrase, but it will jiggle your brain a little.

Focus on your intentions.

What makes you want to write the thing you are writing? What are you trying to say?
How does the author's passage relate to your intentions?
Which ideas from the passage most strongly relate to your intentions?

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