How do I integrate quotations into my essay without it feeling forced?

Quotations from the text(s) that you are analysing are, obviously, essential to an essay. If you have too few the essay will feel vague and unsubstantiated - too many, and the flow of the essay will come across forced, and the quotations will detract from the main focus of your essay, rather than substantiating it. A good way to begin looking at quotations is to go through your text, or your given passage, with a few different colourful highlighters. Each colour should signify a different theme or pertain to a certain argument you are making. Draw yourself up a quick key code for easy reference - yellow means quotations about attitudes towards gender, for example - green for quotes about the natural, blue for good examples of the author's writing style. Then, when you are in the process of writing your essay, every time you find yourself beginning to make a point you can scan through your text, find the relevant colour, and select a good quotation. In terms of then inserting the quotation into the essay without it sticking out like a sore thumb, I always tend to think of the good old PQE - point, quote, explanation. At school we were taught that these should always appear in that order. However, flexibility and variation around the delivery of a quotation means that the essay also feels flexible and varied, rather than repetitive. Instead of simply making a point, inserting a quote, and then explaining how the quote backs up that point, you could instead lead with a quote, explain what is to be found within that quote, and then arrive at the point that concisely sums up what the quote and its explanation were detailing. The delivery of the PQE can also be separated by full stops - if the point that you're making needs a lot of detail, inserting a quote into an already multi-line sentence will make it feel tacked on and too wordy. Instead, use a full stop after the point, and begin the next sentence with a phrase that makes it clear you are building upon what you just said, such as 'this can be seen with', or, 'an example that corroborates with this idea is', or, 'evidence for this can be found in'. In essence, the key to integrating quotations into an essay in a smooth manner is to ensure that the quote is relevant, that you are clear on the point that you're making, and to then experiment with what order and in what style you present that point within the essay.