Choose the answer which best paraphrases the following.'I'm thinking about you. What else can I say? / The palm trees on the reverse / are a delusion; so is the pink sand. / What we have are the usual / fractured coke bottles and the smell / of backed-up drains, too sweet, / like a mango on the verge / of rot, which we have also.' - From 'Postcards', by Margaret Atwood.

A paraphrase is a restatement. Paraphrasing is an essential skill to master in the study of English literature. It's not always possible to quote the passages you would like to discuss; sometimes passages are too long and at other times too many quotes make your writing clumsy. It's important to be able to encapsulate the sentence or passage you wish to use, without copying the words. This is difficult because writers choose their words with care, which can make your own words sound poor in comparison. Perseverance is needed.