CLASSIFICATION ESSAY

• Classification means Division Classification n: the act or process of putting people or things into a group or class.. Nowadays, many people evaluate others’ appearances or behaviors

CLASSIFICATION ESSAY

• Classification means Division

Classification (n): the act or process of

putting people or things into a group or

class.

• Writing a classification essay

means dividing information into a

meaningful groups or categories

• The members in a group must share

similar characteristics and follows a single and unifying principle

• Arrange or organize information

into categories or groups

• Break things down in order to

investigate them easily and

distinguish easily

Classification organization

• Introduction

• The hook introduces the information

to be classified

• Background information includes a general statement or statements that give a broader picture of the subject matter to be discussed

• The thesis statement tells what is

being classified and how it is being organized.

Nowadays, many people evaluate others’ appearances or behaviors to determine what kind of people they are It is a

common mistake, isn’t it? Regardless of whether it is true or not, this kind of stereotyping is very useful, and sometimes it brings us some interesting things People’s psychology is also classified into three categories depending on the food they eat: fast-food, vegetarian food, and home cooked food

• Body

• The topic sentence clearly describes the

category in each paragraph and supports the

thesis statement.

• One category or group is described in each

paragraph The information in each paragraph is ordered logically (in order of importance or in

chronological order)

• The supporting details can be descriptions,

definitions, examples… that elaborate on the

topic sentence.

• The concluding sentence bring the idea of the paragraph to close.

• Many people assume that “fast-food” people are usually overweight, busy, and impatient The first thing comes up with people when they think of “fast-food” people is

about their weight In fact, trans fat are commonly found

in fast-food, so people who eat it regularly consume a

high level of trans fat and calories, and then it triggers

many negative effects to their body, especially gaining

weight Some others’ opinions believe that fast-food

people are very busy That’s why they usually eat

fast-food because it is rapidly severed in bags or cartons for people’s convenience Therefore, they are able to save

much time for other things Moreover, this kind of people

is very impatient because of their hectic lives They

cannot seat in an hour to wait for someone or working in

a short time without any signs of success They think that

it waste too much time and then easily to give up In the same kind of stereotyping, people base on vegetarian

food to determine others.

• People think that vegetarians are usually skinny,

superstitious, and careful of their health Actually,

vegetables contain a high proportion of vitamins, but in contrast with fast-food, they generally have a small

proportion of protein and fat, so vegetarians are very skinny In addition, it is very common that people who eat only vegetables tend to be superstitious They

believe that not eating any kinds of meat means not

killing any animals Therefore, they can accumulate the good for their later generations, or they will be able to get the greatest happiness after they die Beside that, many vegetarians assume that eating only vegetables can protect them from illnesses and also be able to

keep their lives longer In our world, especially in China and Japan, there are a lot of very old people who are still very strong and healthy have revealed that almost food in their lives are vegetables Similarly, home

cooked food is another thing to define people.

• Conclusion

• It restates the content of each

paragraph

• It may make a prediction, give

advice or make a general statement.

• To sum up, people are classified into three main categories

basing on their regular food Fast-food people would like a

hectic life, while “their own food” people prefer a leisure life, and vegetarians tend to live a “holy” life For me knowing what kind of people they are is very useful to start a new

relationship with them or just to behave in the most

appropriate ways toward them, and then my life will probably overwhelm with joys and happiness

How to proceed

• Prewriting:

+ Name the categories which you will classify.

+ Find out several examples and their properties of each category.

• Tips:

Don’t Mix Principles!

It’s confusing to have overlapping bases for classification.

* For example: if you’re characterizing cell phones by size, don’t include

classes such as “expensive” or “nice looking.”

• Choose one item that doesn’t belong to the group

a Flannel

b Cotton

c Tuxedo

d Denim

e Silk

What is the principle?

a Algebra

b History

c Geometry

d Trigonometry

e Calculus What is the principle?

Complete the Categories

When you’re classifying, don’t leave anyone or anything out.

Look for obvious missing elements

– Say the writing prompt is “What kind of students are there in your math class?” – Your answer: “Fast and slow learners.” -> But what about the average learners? After all, you need three categories!

Use Parallel Construction in the thesis statement

• Notice that each categorical word is in the same grammatical

form

• Organize your thesis statement with parallelism:

– Eg: “Most people respond in one of three

LANGUAGE FOCUS

• Establishing the Order of Important, Degree, and

Size -> make a logical order

The following expressions will help you rank objects or ideas in order of importance, degree or size:

The most/greatest

The best

The largest

The maximum

The most significant

The most important

The second most/greatest The second fastest

The next best The second highest The second largest

The least/ fewest The slowest

The worst The lowest The smallest The minimum The least significant The least important

- To show similarity or equality, use the same, almost the same, and

similar to.