Classification & Division Where do you belong? Why do you belong there? Who belongs there with you?

What do the terms mean? But, you knew that, right? Division is the process of breaking a whole (bunch of goldfish) into parts (of goldfish so we all can have some) But, you knew that, right?

Classification, on the other hand, Is the process of sorting individual items—or living beings—into categories. There must be an over- arching or underlying principle of classification

But they really are two separate operations! Yes, they are connected But they really are two separate operations!

Let’s take a specific group & practice both Classifying & Dividing it: You—students at school At class change, look at all the individual people in the halls. We can put them in to categories based on several PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIFICATION: How fast they walk What kind of shoes they are wearing Ear buds or beats? Torn jeans or whole jeans Man-bun or military cut . . . There are over 2100 students at this school. We can’t all fit into the cafeteria for lunch at the same time, so we have to be divided up into 5 lunches. Administration uses buildings to break up the group into ‘individual parts’. This highlights the link between the two ideas—there must be criteria to divide, just as there is criteria to group.

Words that indicate A C/d essay are: kinds, types, varieties, aspects, categories What other courses do you take where these concepts are incredibly central?

Steps for writing a C/D essay: Identify the principle of classification. It can be affected by the assignment (read: prompt), purpose, audience, and experience. Your categories must all be equal/treated similarly in your essay Your organization and justification for the divisions or groupings must be logical, and the order must be logical, too. You have a thesis statement that does the following: identifies your subject, introduces the categories you will discuss, and suggests or shows the relationships of your categories to each other and your subject. Lastly, your thesis or your introduction MUST show WHY IT MATTERS OR ADDS VALUE.

Finally, transitions matter so that And so does the use of a colon (:) and serial commas! Huh? Look at this sentence below: Carolyn Foster Segal’s essay identifies kinds of student excuses with five headings: The Family, The Best Friend, the Evils of Dorm Life, The Evils of Technology, and The Totally Bizarre. You can cross from one category under discussion to another.

Let’s read some essays and practice! This is the homework part!