Classification sorting individual items into categories
Categories with a common denominator (Vandermey, et al., 226)
The categories serve a larger purpose than making piles (Rozakis qtd. in infoplease)
Stresses value of the classification (Academic Resource Center)
Division: Grouping into divisible parts
Division-taking a single unit or concept, breaking the unit down into its parts, and then analyzing the connections among the parts and between the parts and the whole.
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Identifies parts of a whole and the relationships between those parts
Division is the process of breaking a whole into parts
Stresses synthesis, a new understanding of the parts (Academic Resource Center)
The single principle "rule" provides provides a foundational connection between and among the parts.
Maintain distinct classifications or divisions to avoid overlapping.
Classifications should use the same elements for each item in the category. If you classify one category by size, speed, color and price, you need to classify every category by size, speed, color and price (Hewitt).
Using this approach for a topic
Helps us understand why things are different or similar by sorting/explaining.
What separates? What connects?
The explanation/analysis emphasizes meaning
Determine the purpose/focus/meaning:
Why are these categories/division identified?
What are the readers supposed to learn about the subject?
Emphasis is on purpose/focus/meaning.
Sorting
Standard: Focus on what the contents of the group tells the reader
Personal: Focus on why the category exists (Kosmicki)
Any system is valid as long as it is
Logical
Sensible
Instructive (Rozakis qtd. in infoplease)
Groups must meet the following criteria:
Consistent subgroups: all members fit
Exclusive: members fit in only one group
Complete: each member fit; no member remains (Vandermey, et al., 226)
For example, according to Stephanie Ericsson in "The Ways We Lie," we can classify the types of lies people tell: Besides the out and out lie, we have white lies, façades, ignoring facts (denial), deflecting, omission, dismissal. When classified in this manner, we may come to believe that telling a lie is not a black and white proposition. Instead, lying involves shades of grey. Ericsson's example illustrates the idea that classification moves beyond sorting to meaning.
Classification-Division Essay
Consider audience for angle, sensitivity
Introduction
Emphasize purpose/focus/meaning.
Your introduction should orient your readers by mentioning your topic, the principle by which your material is divided and classified, and the individual subclasses you plan to discuss (Kirszner and Mandell).
Thesis: This thesis should identify your subject, enumerate the categories you will discuss, and perhaps show readers the relationships of your categories to one another and to the subject as a whole. In addition, your thesis should convince your readers why your categories are significant or establish their relative value (Kirszner and Mandell).
Body: Treat the categories one by one in the order in which your introduction presents them.
Explain each subgroup: Use examples to support.
How it is distinct: shows why/how the subgroup is unique
Explains traits: support with examples or other details (Vandermey, et al., 226)
Subgroup 1: Trait 1, Trait 2, Trait 3
Subgroup 2: Trait 1, Trait 2, Trait 3
Subgroup 3: Trait 1, Trait 2, Trait 3
Each body paragraph addresses one of the categories; the topic sentence introduces the category and, ideally, relates back to the thesis.
Support for each body paragraph provides information about the category: definition (what distinguishes this category and how it is tied to the whole), a combination of examples and illustrations or narrative. Plan to use about the same amount and type of support for each category to emphasize their similarity.
Concluding sentence returns to the idea of the topic sentence.
Note: Topic sentences and concluding sentences also serve as transitions between categories.
(“TIP Sheet: Writing a Classification Paper.” Butte College. 2008.).
Conclusion
Emphasizes purpose/focus/meaning.
Returns to the idea presented in the thesis, the point of the classification: May summarize the main points but should provide “something meaningful about how a whole relates to parts, or parts relate to a whole . . . the point of classification is to reveal and communicate something meaningful”
(“TIP Sheet: Writing a Classification Paper.” Butte College. 2008.).
Sources
Academic Resource Center. “How do I write a classification/division essay?” Wheeling Jesuit University. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.
Ericsson, Stephanie. “The Ways We Lie.” The Longman Reader, 7 th ed . Ed. Judith Nadell, John Langan, and Eliza Comodromos. New York : Pearson Longman, 2005.
Hewitt, John. "Eight Tips for Writing a Division Essay." 2007 Jul. 14. PoeWar: Writing Career Center. 2011. http://www.poewar.com/?s=classification
Johnson-Sheehan, Richard and Charles Paine. Wrtiting Today. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.
Kirszner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell, eds. Patterns for College Writing. 6th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1995. 413-419. Adaptation at https://raisehydra.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/patterns-for-college-writing-laurie-g-kriszner-12th-edition.pdf (See p. 435 and following)
Kosmicki, Jim. “Lecture Notes: Classification/Division Essay." 2004. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. http://kosmicki.com/101/classdivideppt.htm
“TIP Sheet: Writing a Classification Paper.” Butte College. 2008. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.
Vandermey, Randall, et al. The College Writer: A Guide to Thinking, Writing, Researching. 3rd. ed. Cengage Learning, 2008. Google Books. Web. 20 Feb.2011.
“Writing Well. Neat and Tidy: Classify-Divide.” Infoplease. Web. Adapted from Rozakis, Laurie. A Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Well. Penguine, 2000.