STAPLE a blank sheet of paper on top of all your hard-copy stuff STAPLE a blank sheet of paper on top of all your hard-copy stuff. On it, write this: Name ENC 1101, TTh 11 a.m./3:30 p.m/7 p.m. (your class) February 28, 2017 Cause/Effect Essay Brainstorming (Inventing & Collecting/Prewriting) /25 Thesis & Outline /25 Group Discussion /25 Tutoring /25 2 Proofreaders /25 Any steps that you have submitted on Canvas do NOT need to be stapled, but if you are not sure, it doesn’t hurt to include them. Drafts CANNOT be turned in as hard copies. You do NOT need to include a printout of the final version of the essay; it must have been submitted on Canvas.
TONIGHT’S HOMEWORK Begin prewriting, outline, and first draft of classification essay, submit them on Canvas and to a tutor, and bring one printout next Thursday complete Grammar #6 (sentence fragments) handout, AND be prepared for midterm exam (25 multiple-choice items and one 250-word paragraph on an impromptu topic)
The Classification Essay The Writing Process 1. Brainstorming (Inventing & Collecting) (Prewriting and research) 2. Organizing (Outlining) 3. Drafting (First time in paragraph form) 4. Revising (Editing: adding, cutting, moving) 5. Proofreading (Checking grammar, spelling, etc.) Rationale: This slide previews the six steps of the writing process. Each element forms a part of a successful writing experience. Key Concept: The facilitator may explain that the writing process is not necessarily sequential--a linear path from invention to proofreading. Writers may generate a topic, collect some information, organize their notes, go back and collect more information, invent subtopics for their work, go back to organization, etc. The writing process is recursive--it often requires going back and forth between steps to create the strongest work possible. Knowing these steps and strategies, however, can be a great help to writers who struggle with their work.
What is a CLASSIFICATION essay? The Classification Essay What is a CLASSIFICATION essay? In a classification essay, a writer organizes or sorts things into categories. Be sure the categories: are useful. follow a single organizing principle. are all supported by examples. People use classification when they prepare their shopping lists, classifying or grouping the items to avoid walking back and forth in the market.
How to write an effective classification essay Classify by a single principle. The organizing principle is how you sort the groups. Do not allow a different principle to pop up unexpectedly.
Don’t Mix Principles! It’s confusing to have overlapping principles for classification. For example, if you’re characterizing cell phones by size, don’t include classes such as “expensive” or “nice looking.” Stay within the categories you indicate in your thesis statement.
How to write an effective classification essay, cont. Determine the categories. Find logical categories that fit into the same organizing principle. Be thorough; don't leave out a critical category. On the other hand, don't include too many categories, which will blur your classification.
Find the out-of-place item Transport: land, train, air, water Rivers: dangerous, short, wide, long Courses: year-long, one-term, math, late-start Housing: rooms, cheap, apartments, dorms
How to write an effective classification essay, cont. Support each category with equal examples. In general, you should write the same number of examples for each category, though the most important category, usually reserved for last, may require more elaboration.
Thesis Statement The classification thesis statement usually includes the topic and how it is classified. Sometimes the categories are listed. = + + + + Ex.: Three major water sports are popular with many tourists in Hawaii. OR: Three major water sports are popular with many tourists in Hawaii: snorkeling, surfing, and sailing. narrowed topic how classified TS category 1 category 2 category 3
Use Parallel Construction Make your thesis statement parallel: “Most people respond to dramatic life changes in one of three ways: eagerly, indifferently, or reluctantly.” Notice that each categorical word is in the same grammatical form. Here, they are adverbs. Don’t mix and match the terminology!
Two common types of classification are By degree, from lower to higher Organization Two common types of classification are By degree, from lower to higher By chronology, in time periods
Organizing by Degree To classify on the basis of degree means to judge value. Good (C grades are good) Better (B grades are better) Best (A grades are best) Small (small-size cars) Medium (medium-size cars) Large (large-size cars)
Organizing by Chronology You also can write classifications by time: Ancient government systems Medieval government systems Modern government systems Past forms of air travel Present forms of air travel Future forms of air travel
Outlining your essay I. Introduction Hook (lead-in): Introduce the topic in an interesting way. Transition: Work up to the thesis statement. Thesis: Classify the subject into three (or more) categories. (You can use more, but you don’t want to have so many that you can’t cover them all completely in the assigned word count. I recommend no more than four.)
BODY PARAGRAPHS follow the usual format: 1. Topic Sentence: Present the first category. 2. Supporting Details: Define this category with details, give examples, and explain the significance of the examples and/or category (the why). 3. Closing Remarks: Wrap up this paragraph.
Conclusion Paragraph 1. Briefly recap the major points to remind readers, but don’t spend too much time repeating the points in detail. 2. State the importance or significance of the above classification (the why). 3. To close, look at the big picture or the future. You might make some humorous or enlightening remarks.
Common classification transitions Next, also, in addition, as well, another The first kind, the second kind, the third kind An early type, a later type, the current type One group, another important group, the most significant group
Carolyn Foster Segal’s “The Dog Ate My Disk, and Other Tales of Woe” (handout / PDF on Canvas)
Classification Essay Considering the readings we have done so far in this class, write a 900- to 1,100-word, five-paragraph CLASSIFICATION essay explaining the TYPES of something: students or colleges, men or women, heroes or patriots, racists, racism, prejudice, or discrimination, feminism/feminists or sexism/sexists/antifeminism, religious groups or practitioners, writing concerns, or just about anything you can think of. You must use quotes from one or more of the essays we have read or other expert sources from the library databases to support your body paragraphs. Be sure to quote and cite them correctly. (Ask me or a tutor!)
The Classification Essay Classification Essay (continued) Be sure that your essay focuses on a single main point (types of one thing organized around a single principle, clearly stated in the thesis). Be sure that your categories are parallel. Your essay must contain an introduction paragraph that ends with the thesis statement. The essay must also include three or more body paragraphs providing specific “evidence” (the types and examples of them) and details, and a concluding paragraph that returns to the idea of the thesis and provides a sense of closure. Also, be sure you complete and submit all five steps: 1. prewriting/brainstorming (complete before first draft), 2. organizing/outline (complete before first draft), 3a. drafting (first draft due March 7 on Canvas), 4. revising (with classmates on March 7 and with a tutor), 3b. drafting again (second draft due March 21 on Canvas), and 5. proofreading (with a tutor and by two classmates on March 21). The final version of the essay is due on MyHCC/Canvas before class begins March 28. Final essays will NOT be accepted if you do not participate in and submit all five steps!
Three Ways to Get a Quote into a Sentence Without Floating Pronoun Case (Grammar #9) and Checking the Comparison-Contrast Outline Three Ways to Get a Quote into a Sentence Without Floating Make it part of the grammar of your sentence: With Brown v. Board of Education, “[a]n irreversible shift had begun” (Williams 21). Add a source phrase and a comma, and ID the source: Historian and commentator Juan Williams writes, “An irreversible shift had begun” (21). “An irreversible shift had begun,” writes historian and commentator Juan Williams (21). Add a colon: With Brown v. Board, America changed: “An irreversible shift had begun” (Williams 21).
TO INCLUDE A QUOTE IN YOUR ESSAY: The word racism means “hatred or intoler-ance of another race or other races” (“racism, n.1”), but its effects once included a “federal attitude toward enforcing second-class citizenship for blacks” (Williams 325). Put the words you have borrowed in quotation marks and include the first word of the works-cited page entry (usually the author’s last name) and page number in parentheses after the quote. Then you will also need a works-cited page. (See the next slide, page 6 of the syllabus, and the MLA section of LBCH.)
Works Cited “racism, n.1” Dictionary.com Unabridged, Random House, Inc., 2002, 9 Aug. 2016, www.dictionary.com/browse/racism. Williams, Juan. “The Ruling That Changed America.” The Longman Reader, edited by Judith Nadell and John Langan, 11th ed., Pearson Education, Inc., 2016, pp. 387-392. The works-cited page should be on its own page (insert a page break in Word), double-spaced, and use a hanging indentation (so the first line sticks out to the left). If it has more than one source listed, the sources should be alphabetized. (See also page 6 of the syllabus and the MLA section of LBCH.)
Where can you go for additional help? The Classification Essay Where can you go for additional help? Academic Success Center: YLRC 105, BACA 207, DLRC 312 My Office: YADM 108 Phone: 813-259-6470 E-mail: jbielecki@hccfl.edu Websites (links on MyHCC): SmarThinking (access through hccfl.edu) Library Guide for this course (http://libguides.hccfl.edu/databases) Re: Writing (http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/rewriting/) http://owl.english.purdue.edu Key Concept: If your students are struggling with developing a writing process, they can find help at the Purdue University Writing Lab. By making a half-hour appointment with a tutor, students can receive help with any area of the writing process, from invention to proofreading. Click mouse after the title question. 25