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SignalWords

Inordertobeabletoleadyourreaderinthedirectionyouwanttogo,youwillhaveto
usestrongtransitionsinyourwriting.Youcandothatinseveralways:byusingentire
sentencestoconnectonethoughttoanother,entireparagraphstogivemorebackground
information,orsimplyawordortwotoindicateyourintentions.

ThislistofsignalsisfromTheNewReadingTeacher'sBookofLists,1985PrenticeHall,
Inc.,EnglewoodCliffs,NJ07632.ByE.Fry,D.Fountoukidis,andJ.Polk.

1.ContinuationSignals(Warningtherearemoreideastocome):

and also another again andfinally

firstofall Afinalreason furthermore inaddition lastofall
moreover likewise more moreover next
onereason other secondly similarly too
with

2.Changeofdirectionsignals(Watchoutweredoublingback):

although but conversely despite differentfrom

eventhough however incontrast insteadof inspiteof
ontheother
nevertheless otherwise theopposite onthecontrary
hand
rather still yet while though

3.Sequencesignals(Thereisanordertotheseideas):

first,second,
A,B,C inthefirstplace foronething then
third
next before now after while
into(farintothe
until last during since
night)
always Oclock ontime later earlier

4.Illustrationsignals(Hereswhatthatprinciplemeansinreality):

forexample specifically forinstance toillustrate suchas

inthesameway
muchlike similarto
as

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5.Emphasissignals(Thisisimportant):

amajor itallboilsdown asignificant aprimary

mostofall
development to factor concern
morethan payparticular
mostnoteworthy keyfeature amajorevent
anythingelse attentionto
adistinctive
avitalforce rememberthat acentralissue shouldbenoted
quality
themost especially thebasic
aboveall themainvalue
substantialissue important concept
especially thecruxofthe especially thechief importantto
relevant matter valuable outcome note
theprincipal

item

6.Cause,condition,orresultsignals(Conditionormodificationcomingup):

because if of for from

so while then but that
until since as whether inorderthat
sothat therefore unless yet thus
dueto resultingfrom consequently

7.Spatialsignals(Answersthewherequestion):

between on by here there

left right these closeto near
this side middle west beside
east about north south around
over under away infrontof across
into behind toward beyond above
below opposite upon outside upon
outside inside alongside over out
far in adjacent near nextto

8.Comparisoncontrastsignals(WewillnowcompareideaAwithideaB):

and or also too best

most either less lessthan morethan
same better even then half
muchas like analogousto but differentfrom
still yet however although opposite
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rather while though

9.Conclusionsignals(Thisendsthediscussionandmayhavespecial
importance):

asaresult consequently finally fromthiswesee inconclusion

insummary hence lastofall therefore

10.Fuzzsignals(Ideanotexact,orauthortopositiveandwishestoqualifya
statement):

almost if lookslike maybe could

some except should alleged nearly
might reputed seemslike wasreported purported
sortof probably

11.Nonwordemphasissignals

exclamation subheads,like
underline italics boldtype
point(!) TheConclusion
veryshort
indentionof graphic numberedpoints quotation
sentence:Stop
paragraph illustrations (1,2,3) marks
War.

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