 A signal phrase is how you introduce quotes in your paper.  Here’s a list of commonly used signal phrases disputesemphasizes endorsesgrants acknowledgesadds illustratesimplies insistsnotes observespoints out admitsagrees arguesasserts believesclaims commentscompares reasonsreports respondssuggests thinkswrites confirmscontends declaresdenies

 According to ornithologist Jay Shepherd, ‘The bald eagle seems to have stabilized its population, at the very lease, almost everywhere” (96).  In the words of researcher Herbert Terrace, “…” (22).  As Flora Davis has noted, “…” (5).  “...,” claims linguist Noam Chomsky.

 Brian Millsap claims that the banning of DDT in 1972 was “the major turning point” leading to the eagles’ comeback (2).  The ultrasonography machine takes approximately 250 views of each side. Mary Spletter likens the process to “examining an entire loaf of bread, one slice at a time” (40).

Desmond describes how Washoe, when the Gardners returned her to an ape colony in Oklahoma, tried signing to the other apes: One particularly memorable day, a snake spread terror through the castaways on the ape island, and all but one fled in panic. This make sat absorbed, staring intently at the serpent. Then Washoes was seen running over signing to him “come, hurry up” (42).

Ordinarily, you should introduce the material being cited with a signal phrase that includes the author’s last name &/ the title of the work: Flora Davis reports that a chimp at the Yerkes Primate Research Center “has combined words into new sentences that she was never taught” (67). The signal phrase—”Flora Davis reports”— provides the name of the author; the parenthetical citation gives the page number where the quoted sentence may be found.

If the signal phrase does not include the author’s last name, the author’s last name must appear in parentheses along with the page number: Although the baby chimp lived only a few hours, Washoe signed to it before it died (Davis 42).

If your list of works cited includes two or more works by the same author, include the title of the work either in the signal phrase or in abbreviated form in the parenthetical reference: In Eloquent Animals, Flora David reports that a chimp at the Yerkes Primate Research Center “has combined words into sentences that she was never taught” (67). Flora David reports that a chimp at the Yerkes Primate Research Center “has combined words into sentences that she was never taught” (Davis, Eloquent 42).

Writing the paragraphs In order to understand the importance of Graduation Project, it is important to understand its beginning. Jane Doe created what was then called Senior Project as a means of reaching her senior English students who were bored with the usual selection of classic British literature selections (Senior 1). Additionally, Doe saw that many of her students were, in her opinion, “wasting senior year with easy classes” (Doe 3). To illustrate this, Doe quotes one of her former students: “I saw that so many of my students thought that senior year would be an easy year; to me, that meant a meaningless year. I thought that a child’s final year in high school should be more significant” (name 12). Doe thought that a project that students could relate to would help make senior year more meaningful. Once she started senior project, it quickly spread across California and the West Coast. By 2001, 297 high school across the country had made Senior Project a part of senior English (Facts 22). Even though the project started out small, so many teachers, students, and community members recognized its potential that Senior Project quickly became a reality for countless seniors.