College Composition / Unit 23 CMP 0559 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Signal Phrases
Captions available
The idea
A signal phrase introduces borrowed material and tells readers its source and purpose.
In practice
"Environmental historian Rosa Diaz argues that" names the source and prepares readers for a claim; a well-known source may need only a name.
Where people slip
Without a signal phrase, readers cannot tell where the writer's words end and the source's begin.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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