Assignment task: The following list of ideas was extracted by a student from free writing he did for a brief paper on soccer in the United States. Using his thesis statement as a guide, pick out the general ideas and arrange the relevant specific points under them. In some cases, you may have to infer general ideas to cover specific points in the list.
Thesis statement:
"Although its growth in the United States has been slow and halting, professional soccer may finally be poised to become a major American sport."
List of points to organize under different "idea" headings] ideas
"In countries of South and Latin America, soccer is the favorite sport.
In the United States the success of a sport depends largely on its ability to attract huge TV audiences.
Soccer was not often presented on US television.
In 2010 and 2014, the World Cup final was broadcast on ABC and on Spanish-language Univision.
In the past, professional soccer could not get a foothold in the United States because of poor TV coverage and lack of financial backing.
The growing Hispanic population in the United States could help soccer grow as well.
Investors have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the top US professional league.
Potential fans did not have a chance to see soccer games.
Failures of early start-up leagues made potential backers wary of new ventures.
Recently, the outlook for professional soccer has changed dramatically.
The US television audience for the 2010 US-Ghana match was larger than the average US television audience for baseball's World Series."