Continuation Signals (a warning  Regardless  Immediately

that there are more ideas to  Still  In the meantime

come)  The opposite  Last
 A final reason  Though  Lastly
 Again  To be sure  Lately
 Also  True  Later
 And  While  Little by little
 And finally  Yet  Next
 Another  Now
 Besides Sequence Signals (there is an  Once
 Equally important order to these ideas)  Presently
 First of all  A, B, C  Soon
 Further  After  Subsequently
 Furthermore  Always  The next week (month,
 In addition  As soon as day, year)
 Last of all  Before  Then
 Likewise  During  Thereafter
 More  Earlier  Ultimately
 Moreover  Finally  When
 Next  First, second, third  When
 Of equal importance  For one thing
 One reason  From here on Illustration Signals (here’s what
 Other  Gradually that principle means in reality)
 Secondly  Hence  Another
 Similarly  In the end  For example
 Then  In the first place  For instance
 Too  Into (far into the night)  For this purpose
 With  Last  For this reason
 Last of all  For these reasons
Change-of-Direction Signals  Later  Furthermore
(watch out, we’re doubling  Next  In addition
back)  Now  In the same way as
 Admittedly  On time  Just as important
 Although  Since  Moreover
 But  Then  Most important
 Conversely  To begin with  Much like
 Despite  Until  Similar to
 Different from  While  Similarly
 doubtless  Specifically
 Even though Time Signals (when is it  Such as
 Granted happening?)  To be specific
 However  After a short time  To begin with
 In contrast  After awhile  To illustrate
 In spite of  Afterward  To this end
 Instead of  Already  With this in mind
 It is true  At last
 Nevertheless  At length Emphasis Signals (This is
 On the contrary  At the same time important)
 On the other hand  During  Aboveall
 Otherwise  Final  A central issue
 Rather  Finally  A distinctive quality
  A key feature  Hence  On
 A major development  If…then  Opposite
 A major event  In order that/to  Out
 A primary concern  May be due to  Outside
 A significant factor  Nevertheless  Over
 A vital force  Not only…but  Over
 Above all  Of  Right
 Again  Resulting from  Side
 As a matter of fact  Since  South
 As has been noted  So  There
 As I have said  So that  These
 By the way  That  This
 Especially important  Then…if  Toward
 Especially relevant  Therefore  Under
 Especially valuable  Thus  upon
 First and foremost  Unless  West
 Important to note  Until
 Importantly  Whether Comparison-Contrast Signals
 In fact  While (we will now compare idea A
 Indeed  Without with idea B)
 It all boils down to  Yet  Actually
 More than anything else  Also
 Most noteworthy Spatial Signals (this answers  Although
 Most of all the “where” question)  Analogous to
 Of course  About  And
 Pay particular attention  Above  And yet
to  Across  As opposed to
 Remember that  Adjacent  As well as
 Should be noted  Alongside  Best
 The basic concept  Around  Better
 The chief outcome  Away  But
 The crux of the matter  Behind  Compared with
 The main value  Below  Conversely
 The most substantial  Beside  Different from
issue  Between  Either…or
 The principle item  Beyond  Even
 To be sure  By  For all that
 Close to  Half
Cause, Condition, or Result  East  However
Signals (condition or  Far  In contrast
modification is coming up)  Here  In spite
 Accordingly  In  Instead of
 Also  In front of  In the same (like) manner
 As a consequence  Inside or way
 As a result  Into  Ironically
 Because of  Left  Less
 But  Middle  Less than
 Consequently  Near  Like
 Due to  Next to  More than
 For this reason  North  Most
 From  Much as
  Nevertheless  Except
 Nonetheless  If
 Now  Looks like
 Of course  Maybe
 Of this  Might
 On the contrary  Nearly
 On the other hand  Probably
 Opposite  Purported
 Or  Reputed
 Rather  Seems like
 Same as  Should
 Similar to  Some
 Similarly  Sort of
 Still  Was reported
 Strangely enough
 Then Dispute Signals
 Thought  It isn’t true that
 Too  People are wrong who
 Unless say that
 While  Deny that
 Yet  Be that as it may
 By the same token
Conclusion Signals (this ends  No doubt
the discussion and may have  We often hear it said
special importance)  Many people claim
 As a result  Many people suppose
 As I have stated  It used to be thought
 As you can see  In any case
 Briefly
 Consequently Non-word Emphasis Signals
 Finally  Exclamation point (!)
 From this we see  Underline
 Hence  Italics
 In conclusion  Bold type
 In fact  Subheads, like The
 In short Conclusion
 In summary indentation of
 In the end paragraph
 Last of all  Graphic illustrations
 On the whole  Numbered points (1, 2,
 Therefore 3)
 To repeat  Very short sentence.
 To sum up Stop War.
 Ultimately  “quotation marks”

Fuzz Signals (idea is not exact,

or author is not positive and
wishes to qualify a statement)
 Alleged
 Almost
 Could
Signal Phrases for Summarizing, Paraphrasing, & Quotations
Based on templates: They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff, Cathy
Birkenstein

1. Capturing Authorial Action/ For Summaries or Paraphrasing:

These target phrases alert the reader that the author is about to summarize or paraphrase another idea
established by an authority on a chosen topic.

 X acknowledges that _____________

 X agrees that _____________.
 X argues that ___________.
 X believes that ____________.
 X denies/ does not deny that _____________.
 X claims that ____________.
 X complains that ____________.
 X concedes that ____________.
 X demonstrates that _____________.
 X celebrates the fact that _____________.
 X emphasizes that __________.
 X insists that ___________.
 X observes that __________.
 X questions whether ______________.
 X refuses to claim that ______________.
 X reminds us that ______________.
 X reports that _____________.
 X suggests that _____________.
 X urges u

2. Introducing Quotations:
These target phrases alert the reader that the author is about to quote directly from another source. The writer is
preparing the reader for the proper parenthetical citation.

 X states, “_____________.”
 In her book, __________, X maintains that “_____________.”
 Writing in the journal XxYyZz, X complains that “_____________.”
 As the prominent philosopher, X puts it, “________________.”
 According to X, “_________________.”
 X himself writes, “__________________.”
 In X’s view, “________________.”
 X agrees when she writes, “_____________.”
 X disagrees when he writes, “______________.”
 X complicates matters further when he writes, “______________.”

3. Explaining Quotations: Every paragraph must show clarification, interpretation, or necessary analysis of
a supplied quotation or paraphrase. This offers the research author to have the final word in a paragraph.

 Basically, X is saying ______________.

 In other words, X believes ______________.
 In making this comment, X argues that ______________.
 X’s view confirms/reaffirms/clarifies the view that ______________.
 X is insisting that ______________.
 X’s point is that _______________.
 The essence of X’s argument is that.

4. Introducing Statistics or “Standard Views”:

The following target phrases alert the reader that the research writer is about to use numerical data or popular
opinions. (Remember, numerical data is cited, conventional ideas are not.)

 Americans today tend to believe that ________________.

 Conventional wisdom has it that _______________.
 Common sense seems to dictate that ______________.
 The standard way of thinking about topic X has it that _______________.
 It is often said that _____________.
 Many people assumed that ______________.
 A recent study shows ______________.
 Scientists recently noted that ______________.
 Doctors at the XxYyZz Institute claim that ______________.
 In the 2010 Census, it was shown that ______________.

5. Introducing Contrasting Arguments: Frequently research writers find conflicting reports. Inclusion of
these debates can add strength to their own works. Analysis of other opinions likewise needs target phrases.
When using multiple viewpoints, it is crucial that the reader understands the different opinions.
A number of sociologists have recently suggested that X’s work has several fundamental problems.
It has become common today to dismiss X’s contribution to the field of sociology.

 In their recent work, Y and Z have offered harsh critiques of Dr. X for __________.
 X argues ______________.
 According to both X and Y, ________________.
 Politicians _____________, X argues, should ___________________.

6. Expressing Authorial Opinions:

The individual research writer may have opinions regarding the collected information shown in the report. Since
personal voice is not allowed, the following target phrases tell the reader the commentary expressed is the
research author and not a secondary source. Likewise, these statements help conclude the paragraph and allow
the research writer to have the last word on the topic.

 But ___________ are real and, arguable, the most significant factor in _________.
 But X is wrong that ______________.
 However, it is simply not true that ______________.
 Indeed, it is highly likely that ____________.
 But the view that ____________ does not fit all the facts.
 X is right that ___________.
 X is wrong that __________.
 X is both right and wrong that ____________.
 Yet a sober analysis of the matter reveals _________________.
 Nevertheless, new research shows ____________.
 Anyone familiar with ___________ should see that ___________.
 Proponents of X are right to argue that ___________. But they exaggerate when they claim that
___________.
 While it is true that ____________, it does not necessarily follow that _________.