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If you have not ever been assigned a classification essay, it can seem like an intimidating assignment. But if you take some time to familiarize yourself with all of its requirements, you will see that it isn’t too difficult of a task. First, let us define this type of essay.
A classification essay is like most types of academic writing in that it follows the standard format of introduction, thesis statement, body paragraphs, and conclusion. The way in which it distinguishes itself is through the need to organize and generalize different people, objects, or concepts. In particular, the assignment involves organizing things into groups and providing examples that fit into each of them. For instance, you could classify sports into physical, mental, and motorized. Likewise, you can categorize fish into jawless, cartilaginous, and armored. The possibilities are truly endless. Just keep in mind that while you are free to determine the criteria for classifying the items, you must be able to provide justification. Once you have settled on your classification essay topic and written your classification essay outline, you will be prepared to start your first draft. This article will provide classification essay tips that should put you on the right track.
When writing an essay, structure is essential. The good news is that the classification essay usually follows the conventional “five-paragraph” format, although you should obviously pay attention to your instructor’s guidelines, especially if you are being asked to write a longer paper.
In your introduction, you should define your topic, in this particular case the groups that are being classified. If you are choosing very narrowly defined groups (for instance, left-handed-pitchers, 1990s science fiction films), you will need to make sure the reader understands this from the beginning. The intro should also provide specific descriptive or informative details so that it hooks the reader and demonstrates that there is a point to your paper. Explain what the essay is going to categorize by clearly identifying the subject. Explain why you chose these objects, ideas or people. Finish the paragraph by writing a classification essay thesis statement in which you identify the groups and explain how you went about classifying them.
This should consist of three paragraphs, although your instructor could ask for more. Each paragraph should be devoted to one particular category, although if your paragraphs are long you can break them down as long as you use proper transitions. Start each paragraph by introducing the main point, in this case, a particular category. Then proceed to list the items or objects that belong in this particular category. As you are arranging your body paragraphs, organize them in a clear and logical way. For instance, if you are discussing strategies for losing weight, you might start with the least effective methods followed by the most effective ones (or vice versa). The main thing is to make sure the way the order in which you write your body paragraphs matches how you list them in your thesis.
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Use this paragraph to briefly restate your thesis and summarize your paper. You will also use the opportunity to create a link between the different categories you have chosen. You could make one last comment about each category, or provide a summary of their respective values or limitations. If you are focusing on strategies, you could explain why one particular approach is better than the others along with justification. Regardless, your concluding paragraph should explain one last time why you have chosen to classify these objects, ideas, or people. As you put together the original draft, you can approach it from different angles, but just remember that it must always follow the structure of the introduction, three (or more) body paragraphs, and conclusions.
Now that you have a general idea about what a classification essay entails, let us go into a little more detail about how you can write one.
Much like virtually every writing assignment, you do not want to simply plow right into it. You first need to develop a clear plan if you want the paper to be well organized and understandable to the reader. Here are some important planning strategies:
Brainstorm for topics. If your instructor has not given you a topic (or list of topics) to choose from, it is important to come up with a few on your own. Ultimately, you will pick a group of objects, concepts, or people that you can logically separate into different groups. While you obviously will need to choose things that fall into clearly defined categories so that they can be compared, you do not want to pick too many of them. Your best bet is to select between 3 and 5 categories depending on how long your paper is expected to be. This will be sufficient for making comparisons without having so many that you are not able to discuss them in-depth.
Pick your categories. Now that you have decided upon a topic, consider which categories you will be dividing them into. For some topics, you have several options, so select the way in which you will approach it. For instance, if you are choosing a group of people, will you sort them by education level? Geographic location? Height? Each category should have a single basis for classification. As a good rule, you could choose around three different categories to divide the objects, ideas, or people into.
Choose the order. As you deciding how to arrange the categories, make a list of points that you plan to discuss for each category. This will make it easier to identify similarities and allow you to connect the sentences and transitions in a way that makes it flow better. Since you will need to look at the previous paragraphs in order to create comparisons, it is important that you organize them in a way that makes this possible. Within each paragraph, you will also want to organize your points in a logical manner. One typical strategy is to list things in order of importance.
Develop a thesis. Your thesis is usually the last sentence in the introduction paragraph and provides guidance for the entire paper. If you create it early in the planning process, your paper will have more focus as you continue along. Begin by stating the object, idea, or people that will be divided into groups, list these respective groups, and explain how you went about classifying them. Your thesis could also explain the reasons for classifying these things. For example, are you planning to argue that one group is better than the others?
After you have finished planning for your classification essay, you can proceed to write the actual paper. Keep in mind that nobody ever writes an ideal paper in one sitting. You will need to go back and make edits and, in fact, you might even find yourself making major changes if you find that the paper is going in an entirely new, intriguing direction.
At this stage, you have created a well-thought-out plan. Now it is time to start writing your classification essay.
You should be able to describe or define each category. To do this, highlight their main features and go into a discussion about them. It will be necessary to provide a few examples to illustrate. Choose examples that typically represent the respective categories. Make sure to use an equal amount for each category. Compare and contrast to highlight how each of the categories is similar or different.
These tips useful when you are at the stage where you are ready to begin writing your classification essay. The most important thing to remember is that planning and preparation are crucial. If you take the time to organize everything in advance, it will make it so much easier to compete with the assignment!
You may find this article 130 Winning Classification Essay Topics and classification essay samples useful.
Having a difficult time trying to choose the topic? There are so many ways in which you can go about this. The most important thing is to remember that the purpose of this assignment is to take ideas, objects, or people and break them down into logical, easy-to-understand categories. Start by picking a topic that is broad and then narrow it down. Here are some suggestions:
As soon as you have the mindset of a classifier, you will have a good idea about what to choose to write about and you will be able to proceed to the next step.
We understand that most students are not big fans of making outlines. It seems like tedious, extra work. But when writing a classification essay you will find that an outline is extremely useful. It provides guidelines and keeps your paper going in the right direction. You would never drive through an unfamiliar city without GPS, right? Likewise, doing an outline is like being able to navigate, stay on course, and not accidentally make a wrong turn. So if you really want your classification essay to look its best, making an outline is a great strategy.
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