Page 418 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

stress that you explore in your essay. As a suggestion for organizing
your essay, try defining the broad term stress in the introduction. Then

list and define each type of stress in a topic sentence. Since

classification essays often incorporate examples, you may wish to

support your body paragraphs with examples that give the reader a

clear picture of each type of stress.

Consultant’s Report: Definition,

Classification, and Process

You are a consultant. A large organization—it could be a school, a

shopping center, a grocery store, a church, or some other organization

that serves many people—has hired you to look at its problems and

determine how the organization can fix those problems. It is up to you
to choose the organization and define and classify its problems. Just

to give some examples, a shopping center might find that many

people with handicaps have trouble moving freely about within the

center. They can’t navigate the sidewalks easily, the aisles in some of

the stores are too narrow, and restaurant tables are too close
together. You might classify these as “mobility problems.” That same

shopping center might find that teenagers, who traditionally have high

disposable incomes, are not spending their money. Instead of making

the shopping center profitable by buying clothing, DVDs, or video

games, they are hanging out in outdoor areas with friends or flirting

with other teenagers. How can the shopping center lure these
teenagers into the stores to spend money? These problems might be