{"id":672,"date":"2018-10-20T21:23:04","date_gmt":"2018-10-20T21:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-americanlit2\/?post_type=chapter&p=672"},"modified":"2018-10-20T21:23:41","modified_gmt":"2018-10-20T21:23:41","slug":"academic-readers-expect-signal-phrases","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-mythology\/chapter\/academic-readers-expect-signal-phrases\/","title":{"raw":"Academic Readers Expect Signal Phrases","rendered":"Academic Readers Expect Signal Phrases"},"content":{"raw":"Signal Phrases<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGood readers will look for the way you set up your quotes as well as the way you interpret them. Use signal phrases to ensure smooth paragraphs.\r\n\r\nAs I keep mentioning, good writers are writers who know their options. Often, a well-placed word or phrase is necessary to guide readers.\u00a0 Signal phrases also separate your ideas from the source's ideas.\u00a0 This is crucial.\r\n\r\nHere are some verbs you might use for strong signal phrases. Notice how they give away the author's tone. Of course, the catch is that you'll have to understand the quote and the author's tone, which is the author's attitude toward the work. This is the tough part! Here are some ready-made options for you:\r\n\r\nAuthor is neutral<\/strong>\r\n\r\ncomments,describes, explains, illustrates, notes, observes, points out, records, relates, reports, says, sees, thinks, writes\r\n\r\nAuthor infers or suggests<\/strong>\r\n\r\nanalyzes, asks, assesses, concludes, considers, finds, predicts, proposes, reveals, shows, speculates, suggests, supposes\r\n\r\nAuthor argues<\/strong>\r\n\r\nclaims, contends, defends, holds, insists, maintains\r\n\r\nAuthor agrees<\/strong>\r\n\r\navers, admits, grants, concedes, notes, agrees\r\n\r\nAuthor is uneasy or disparaging<\/strong>\r\n\r\nbelittles, bemoans, complains, confesses, condemns, deplores, deprecates, derides, disagrees, laments, warns. (Notice how the de- prefix here lets us know that what follows goes away or from. These words have much different tones from the \"togetherness\" of co- com- prefixes. Little effects like this aren't lost on careful readers!)\r\n\r\nWe basically just looked at the verbs used within these phrases.\u00a0 Let's think of other ways of signaling that what follows is theirs--and that they are weighty, credible voices:\r\n