Pulling Them Apart: The Art of Dividing

To divide is to take something and break it down into its component parts. If you are writing a review of the new iPhone, you might discuss the operating system, the screen, the available apps, the battery, and the camera. You are dividing it into its components so you can discuss each one in turn. These divisions are also commonly known as categories if you are analyzing something, or criteria if you are evaluating something.

When you divide something, there is always the element of choice, and readers might disagree with your divisions. For example, they might say that apps and operating system are the same thing and should be called software. Ultimately, though, it is up to you as the writer. Be prepared to defend or clarify your divisions.

In this section of the book, I have made the choice to divide writing into the components of rhetorical modes. You'll find other first-year writing textbooks where the authors choose not to make that division. In the first part of this book, I chose to divide the writing process into pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Some folks out there will disagree with that choice, and they're free to write their own textbook.

Using Division to Write Evaluations and Reviews

At RATEMYPROFESSOR.COM, students evaluate their professors using four categories: Easiness, Helpfulness, Clarity, and Rater Interest. They can also write a review of the professor (usually one or two paragraphs). The whole point is to help other students decide if they want to take a course from that professor.

To help my students understand the art of division, I ask them to pretend that our campus website has a feature called RATEMYCLASSROOM. We spend a few minutes brainstorming possible criteria (i.e. divisions) we could use to evaluate the room. Usually, we end up with a list that includes such things as size of the room, comfort of chairs and desks, temperature, location on campus, number of windows, computer equipment, WiFi strength, color scheme, and speaker system (apparently, it’s important to many students that the TED Talks we watch are in surround sound). The list could go on—there are dozens or perhaps hundreds of categories.

I then ask students to write a one-paragraph review of the classroom using only three or four of the categories from the board. The key is to pick categories that are important to them and that will be relevant to the reader. While I, as a professor, value the ability to change the thermostat, a student trying to decide if she wants to take a class in that room probably doesn’t care about such things.

I recently did this activity with my students and decided to write my review using the following three criteria: the size of the classroom, the age of the building, and the number of windows. Additionally, I decided to write the review for fellow professors who might not want to teach in that particular classroom: Browning 117. I could have just as easily written the paragraph for students—ultimately, it doesn’t matter to whom you write your review as long as you have some particular group of people in mind and then cater the review to them. Remember, the top goal of writing a review is to help the reader make a decision about the thing being reviewed.

Here is my final paragraph. I don’t claims it’s perfect, but it demonstrates how the rhetorical mode of division can help with the task of writing an evaluative argument.

Teaching English in Browning 117

There are a few things about Browning 117 that might make it unappealing for English professors, such as its size, age, and lack of windows, but the classroom is still a good option for teaching English 0990. The first concern, that the classroom is small, is only an issue when an instructor wants to move the chairs and desks around. It contains 14 two-seater desks and 28 chairs, none of which has wheels. Given the lack of space, it is extremely difficult to rearrange the furniture for small-group activities, especially if students are already in the room. Students have also complained that it is difficult to get in and out of desks without tripping on the legs of the chairs. Regardless, the chairs are comfortable, and if an instructor is willing to leave them where they are, the room layout is fine—there is even plenty of space for the instructor to walk around the front and side of the room while lecturing. The second concern, that the classroom is old, is only true in the sense that the building is old, but the classroom itself has been remodeled in the last ten years and has a very new feel to it. The paint and carpet are fresh, the white boards are unblemished, and the classroom is equipped with a computer, ELMO, overhead projector, and Wi-Fi. It also has access to the bank of computers in the foyer. Despite its age, the classroom feels very modern. The last concern, that the classroom lacks windows, is actually easy to rectify. It actually has one exterior window that looks toward the center of campus, and it has two interior windows that look into the foyer. All the windows have beige shutters, which are usually shut. This might explain why, at first glance, the room appears to have no windows, but if instructors open them, the room feels airy and light and open. It’s not the perfect classroom, for sure, but Browning 117 provides a surprisingly comfortable and up-to-date environment for teaching English 0990.

There are many circumstances in which using the division will help you write an evaluative analysis or argument. You might have a short, informal assignment to read and evaluate an article or story. You might have to write a longer, formal paper in which you evaluate a product, book, or movie. In the workplace, you might be expected to evaluate one of your employees. I had the experience years ago, before I even had a college degree, of having to write an evaluation of a very expensive software program that the sheriff’s office was considering purchasing for the 911 center. Fortunately, the director of the center came up with the criteria for me to use before beginning my evaluation. I don’t recall what they were, but I imagine they were something like ease of use, customizability, and cost of implementation. I don’t even remember if my evaluation was good or not, but ultimately we bought the program, so I like to think the powers-that-be found my recommendations useful.

Sample Division-Based Analysis

The following is from a developmental-writing course, The assignment was to write a one-paragraph review of a movie using three criteria.

Prehistoric Goodness

For a few days after watching Jurassic World, I gave into my baser movie-snob urges and railed against the film, warning friends and family not to waste their time or money on this slick reboot of Jurassic Park. As I’ve thought about the film over the last couple of months, however, I’ve softened my criticism and have come to accept that it actually wasn’t that bad of a movie. One thing I appreciated about Jurassic World was its relatively short runtime. Big-budget movies tend to demand a three to four-hour commitment, which may not seem like much, but when I’m sitting next to a squirming child who has just guzzled my ten-dollar soda, three hours is an eternity. Jurassic World clocks in at about two hours, and it’s a quick two hours at that: when it was over, I honestly thought it had only been an hour. Another thing I appreciated was the simplicity of the story line. Like the original, this movie establishes a little bit of science and then releases the dinosaurs. There’s not much more to it. After watching the sequels, which got mired in plots and subplots and ridiculous twists and turns, it was refreshing to watch Chris Pratt plow through the jungle on his motorcycle, flanked by a flock of raptors, ready to take on the big bad—ridiculous, yes, but straight forward. I applaud the film for its lack of guile. The last thing I appreciated about the film was how well it paid homage to the original without feeling like just another remake. Jurassic Park fans could nerd-out to the little things, like someone wearing a vintage Jurassic Park t-shirt, or characters stumbling into the original Jurassic Park building, with the tattered banner still on the ground and the faint roar of a long-dead T-Rex reminding us of what had happened. Never did any character have to explain the plot of Jurassic Park, though. Spielberg trusted us as viewers to make the connections ourselves, and they were so much fun to make. So despite my initial grumblings, I’m happy to conclude that Jurassic World is definitely worth a few dollars and a couple hours of your time. If nothing else, watch it just to see Bryce Dallas Howard clumsily sprinting through the jungle in high heels.