English 102 Week 6
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WeekSixReadingMaterials.htmlWeek 6, Section 1. Development of Body Paragraphs, Part 2: Signal Phrases
Development of Body Paragraphs, Part 2: Signal Phrases
As you work through the development of your body paragraphs for Paper 2, you will be managing multiple sources/voices and your own voice. Your goal as a writer is to unify these voices using some key strategies.
Key words: Earlier, in Week One, we studied key words as a strategy for reading and analyzing a piece of writing--Aesop's "The Fox and the Grapes." You can also work at ensuring that your own writing has key words to help develop and unify the ideas in your own writing.
Consider using the following templates when drafting your paragraphs for Paper 2. You can also use these templates for any paper that requires you to synthesize multiple sources. You will have to adapt them to fit the literary source material. Here are some examples based on two fables with the fox:
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The Fox and the Grapes One hot summer’s day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. “Just the thing to quench my thirst,” quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: “I am sure they are sour.” It is easy to despise what you cannot get. |
The Lion’s Share The Lion went once a-hunting along with the Fox, the Jackal, and the Wolf. They hunted and they hunted till at last they surprised a Stag, and soon took its life. Then came the question how the spoil should be divided. “Quarter me this Stag,” roared the Lion; so the other animals skinned it and cut it into four parts. Then the Lion took his stand in front of the carcass and pronounced judgment: “The first quarter is for me in my capacity as King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you will dare to lay a paw upon it.” “Humph,” grumbled the Fox as he walked away with his tail between his legs; but he spoke in a low growl. “You may share the labors of the great, but you will not share the spoil.” |
- In the first fable, the character of the fox complains, “I am sure they are sour” (35). He no longer is interested in them; the complaint is thereby just self-serving, and he is able to walk away without too much regret. However, in the second fable (5), his complaint becomes more adamant against a world in which he is powerless, but in which he must learn to survive. On the one hand, the lion contends that no one will be able to remove his paw from the carcass; the fox grudgingly acknowledges his place in the hierarchy of the animal kingdom by skulking away because he knows he will lose that battle. The two fables come together in demonstrating the theme with the character of the fox always being on the losing end.
- Most readers agree that the fables’ morals demonstrate individual themes; yet, when read together, they can demonstrate larger, more universal themes about human behavior in general.
Before you start working on your body paragraphs, brainstorm and jot down a couple of key words that could help your reader understand the main point of your second paper. For example, if you’re writing about the fox’s inability to get food, you may want to consider the key words of success, failure, inability, or food. As you develop your paragraphs, you would then bring in those key words to help unify the presentation.
Remember, key words can also be synonyms or phrases that mean the same idea. You don’t have to repeat the same key word over and over.
Signal Phrases: In Paper 1, you used signal phrases as a strategy to introduce one piece of textual evidence. Now, with the addition of another story and the literary element, you will be managing multiple sources.
Signal phrases are the words that introduce quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material. They work well when working with a single source. However, much of academic writing requires signal phrases and introductory clauses that introduce other writers’ voices.
Signal phrases can be viewed as templates, i.e., you can choose an appropriate pattern of words to fit your particular presentation of the material. In other words, you introduce the quoted material; you do not just place a quotation in a paragraph.
The verbs within a signal phrase are very important. They can be as simple as “said” or “argued,” or they can add deeper meaning to the context of how you are using the quoted material. In the templates below, note the verbs and how they offer a context to the material.
Here are the templates for you to try. Remember, they can be used for any type of writing where you have to bring in multiple sources.
Introducing Something Implied or Assumed
- Although X does not say so directly, she/he apparently assumes that __________________.
- While they rarely admit as much, _______________ often take for granted that _______________.
Introducing an Outgoing Debate
- Regarding the topics of _____________, most people will readily agree that ________________. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of _______________. Whereas some are convinced that __________________, others maintain that _________________.
- Defenders of ___________ can’t have it both ways. Their assertion that ____________ is contradicted by their claim that_____________.
Capturing Authorial Action
- X acknowledges that _________________.
- X agreed that _________________.
- X argues that_________________.
- X complains that _________________.
- X demonstrates that _________________.
- X emphasizes that _________________.
Disagreeing, with Reasons
- X is mistaken because he/she overlooks _________________.
- X’s claim that _________________ rests upon the questionable assumption that _________________.
- X’s view that _________________ is incorrect because, as research has shown, _________________.
- By focusing on _________________, X overlooks the deeper problem of _________________.
- X claims _________________, but we don’t need him/her to tell us that. Anyone familiar with _________________ has long known that _________________.
Agreeing—with a Difference
- X is right about _________________ because, as he/she may not be aware, evidence shows that _________________.
- X’s theory of _________________ is useful because it sheds insight on the difficult problem of _________________.
- A point from _________'s argument that needs emphasizing is that ________________ since so many people believe _________________.
Agreeing and Disagreeing Simultaneously
- Although X statement is valid to a point, the overall conclusion cannot be accepted because _________________.
- While there is much to disagree about in X says, the final conclusion of ____________ is valid.
- Though it can be conceded that _________________, it still is important to insist that _________________.
- X is right that _________________, but she seems to be on more dubious ground when she/he states _____.
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These templates are based on templates from Gerald Graff’s and Cathy Birkenstein’s They Say, I Say, The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. 3rd ed. NY: W.W. Norton & Co. 2014. Print.
