Page 378 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

Writing a classification essay allows you to use your categorizing skills
to answer questions like the ones that follow.

What kinds of extracurricular activities benefit students most?

What types of students do you least enjoy having as classmates?

How would you classify the fans that you see at a football game?

Establishing a Basis for

Classification

In the following list of kinds of teachers, which item does not belong?

a. the drill sergeant

b. the comedian
c. the sociology teacher

If you chose c, you are right. You have recognized, consciously or

subconsciously, that the first two have the same basis for

classification—teaching style. The third item has a different basis for
classification—subject matter.

Building Connections

Classifications, especially those that are your own invention,

may often begin with a definition. For example, if you classified

“teacher” into three groups—the drill sergeant, the comedian,