McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Objective This section defines and offers examples of several types of signal words. Part Four, Reading Comprehension Skills Skill Four, Recognizing Signal Words

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Signal words help the reader follow the direction of a writer’s thought. They are like signposts on the road that guide the traveler. Common signal words show: emphasis addition comparison or contrast illustration cause and effect

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Emphasis words tell you directly that a particular idea or detail is especially important. Some typical words used for emphasis: important to noteespecially valuablethe chief factor most of allmost noteworthya vital force a significant factorremember thatabove all a primary concerna major eventa central issue the chief outcomea distinctive quality the most substantial issue a key featureshould be notedpay particular attention to the main value

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Addition words tell you that the writer’s thought is going to continue in the same direction. The author is going to add on more points or details of the same kind. Addition words are typically used to signal enumerations. Some typical addition words: alsofirst of alllast of allandanother for one thinglikewisesecondfinally first in addition nextfurthermore moreover the third reason

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Comparison or contrast words Comparison words signal that the author is pointing out a similarity between two subjects. They tell you that the second idea is like the first one in some way. Typical comparison words: likejust asin the same waysimilarly likewisein like manneralikeequally just likein a similar fashionsimilarlyas

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Contrast words signal a change in the direction of the writer’s thought. They tell you that the author is pointing out a difference between two subjects or statements. Typical contrast words: butyetvariationon the other hand howeverdifferstillconversely in contrastdifferenceon the contraryotherwise

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Illustration words tell you that an example or illustrations will be given to make an idea clear. Such words are typically used in textbooks that present a number of definitions and examples of those definitions. Typical illustration words: for examplespecificallyfor instance to illustrateoncesuch as

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cause and effect words signal that the author is going to describe results or effects. Typical cause and effect words: becausereasonsincetherefore effectas a resultso thatthus if…. thencauseconsequentlyresult in