Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Emphasize Those Ideas!

No matter how long or short your writing is, you want to emphasize your ideas. One way to do that is through the use of signal words. Those words can fall into a few categories: chronological sequence, comparison/contrast, description, generalization/principle, and process/cause and effect. For more information about signal words, visit this site: http://www.somers.k12.ny.us/intranet/reading/signalwords.html.

I'd like you to pick one item or event and describe why you feel the way you do. Remember to use those signal words. Give three to four sentences about your feelings.

I'll start!

I really enjoy watching the Olympics. First, it's a chance to watch some of my favorite sports. Secondly, you get to see elite athletes from all over the world. Last, but not least, there are always some huge surprises and upsets.

Notice that those signal words ("first," "secondly," and "last, but not least") help the reader to follow the order of my ideas. Also, they show that I've thought about the general "flow" of the sentences!

Now you try it!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really enjoy watching my son play soccer. First I watch him get all excited as game time approches.
Then he takes to the field. The games are usually very exciting. With goals being exchanged by both teams.Lastly I get to see the sheer joy when he scores a G O A L.
He shouts and run to his team mates. This makes it all worth it.

Anonymous said...

Although the river was narrowing, it remained deceptively deep. The water was dark as well as cold and though I knew how to swim, I was cautious.

The website had a lot of signal words by category. I chose description but there were so many words to choose from. I hope I used them properly as I was a little confused.

Anonymous said...

He started his speach with a simple questions, then gave the main idea and finalize with a simple statement.

Maria Rodriguez-Trelles