Using signal phrases in your own writing (MLA style)

Mod-59

Click here to read an excerpt from an article on the savings of Irish immigrants in the United States. The author of this journal article, a professor of history at George Washington University, presents evidence from bank records that early Irish immigrants tended to save large sums in their bank accounts, even though they experienced limited economic opportunities. The period examined is before the Civil War (the antebellum period). The excerpt is from page 743 of the printed article.

Click Submit after each text box to submit your answers to your instructor’s gradebook. You may review your answers by returning to this activity at any time. (An activity reports to the gradebook only if your instructor has assigned it.)

  1. Suppose you are writing a paper about how immigrants advance in American society and you want to integrate a quotation from this source. Select a sentence that would make a strong quotation and type the sentence into the text box below. Be sure to include quotation marks because the words are copied directly from the source.

    Question

    46O/GvlXlao=
    Writing with signal phrases (MLA style): Item 1
  2. Why did you choose that sentence? Why does it seem worth quoting? Type your answer in the text box below.

    Question

    46O/GvlXlao=
    Writing with signal phrases (MLA style): Item 2
  3. Now add to the sentence a signal phrase that clarifies the purpose of the quotation for your readers. In other words, your signal phrase should provide more information than a statement like “Anbinder writes that. . ..” It should help your readers understand why you have chosen to quote the source. Use MLA in-text citation style.

    Question

    46O/GvlXlao=
    Writing with signal phrases (MLA style): Item 3
  4. Explain your choice of signal phrase. Why is the signal phrase important? How will it help your readers understand the source and why you are using it? Type your answer in the text box below.

    Question

    46O/GvlXlao=
    Writing with signal phrases (MLA style): Item 4

This is the end of the module "Using signal phrases in MLA papers."