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Article summary and Synthesis

Article summary and Synthesis

English 102 Summary and Synthesis Assignment

For your first formal paper in English 102, you are to summarize either Gregg Easterbrook’s “How the NFL Fleeces Taxpayers” or Sarah Wilhelm’s “Public Funding of Sports Stadiums”. You are to also write a synthesis of both pieces, no matter which one you choose to summarize. Consult your class notes on summary and synthesis writing and review the Things To Keep In Mind section below.

 

Length: The summary portion should be 1-2 pages, and the synthesis should be 2-3 pages.  Note that the synthesis must begin on a new, separate page, not on the same page that summary ends. Also note that for the minimums, they must be full pages of text and not a page that’s really a half-page because half the page is taken up with a double-spaced header.

 

Format: 12 point, Times New Roman font.  Double-spaced.  Be sure to check the paragraphing in Word and make sure the After is 0 points.  The default tends to be 10 points, which will result in incorrect spacing.

 

Things To Keep In Mind

  1. Remember that a summary does not include your own opinion.  Nor does a synthesis.
  2. Summary conclusions can be a bit tricky for the purposes of writing “So what?” or “What now?” conclusions.  My own suggestion is to use the “So what?” method, specifically the option of “What have we learned from this?”  It’s a good way to keep it fact-based and avoid the temptation to slip into opinion.  For the synthesis, I’d recommend the same type of conclusion, but will not mandate it in either case.
  3. Include a thesis statement for each part – one for the summary, and one for the synthesis.  You might want to use the essay map thesis method covered in class.
  4. There should be anywhere from 1-3 quotes for each part (summary and synthesis).  Remember that quotes are most effective when they are brief (and brevity is a necessity in a paper this short).  For this assignment, when citing Wilhelm, use the page number.  When citing Easterbrook, use the correct MLA format for citing web pages.
  5. You should also cite the page number/web page if you’re paraphrasing.
  6. Be sure to include the author or authors’ full name and the full article or brief title(s) in the introduction. For references to an author’s name after the first mention, use their last name.
  7. Do NOT use outside sources.  Summary is the most basic building block to learning how to be an effective researcher and writer of research papers.  Hence, it’s something you need to learn to do on your own.  Using outside sources for this assignment will result in an automatic F.
  8. Don’t be afraid to use the Writing Center, but make sure you go early and not Tuesday morning before class.  You won’t get much out of it if you wait that late.
  9. If you’re absolutely stuck and in crisis mode, e-mail me or see me during office hours.

 

 

 

 

 

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Article summary and Synthesis

Article summary

Gregg Easterbrook’s “How the NFL Fleeces Taxpayers” summary

            Gregg Easterbrook in this article says that stadiums are usually funded by the taxpayers’ money while broadcasting deals are usually not affected by antitrust laws. At the same time, the NFL football league is treated like other nonprofit organizations. As a result of this, the owners of the clubs participating in this league earl a lot of income annually. For example, Roger Goodell who is a commissioner in this league makes around $30 million per year. Based on these findings, it is high time the government came up with policies that………………….

APA

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