Technical Writing S03 Providence University 1 Technical Writing - Classifying Wu-Lin Chen Department of Computer Science and Information Management PROVIDENCE UNIVERSITY College of Management

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 2 Classification A classification includes: –A general class –A specific item or items –A basis for classification (frequently not stated) For example –All matter (general class) may be classified as either solid, liquid, or gas (specific items).

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 3 Classifying From General To Specific All matter may be classified as either solid, liquid, or gas. Solids may be further divided into two classes: crystalline and amorphous. solidliquidgas matter crystalline solid amorphous

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 4 Classifying From Specific To General Rubber, wood, glass, iron, cotton, and sand are all classified as solids. woodglassiron solids cottonrubbersand

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 5 Classifying From Specific To General Rocks, wood, paper, and cotton are crystalline solids. woodpapercotton crystalline solids rocks

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 6 Sentence Patterns Classifying from general to specific Matter is/are may be can be could be classified grouped divided arranged categorized classified categorized classed grouped into divisions. groups. types. classes. categories. classifications. assolids, liquid, or gas. There are three types kinds classes categories of matter.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 7 Sentence Patterns (cont.) Classifying from specific to general Oxygen may be can be could be is/are classified classed categorized as a gas. Oxygen is an example of a a type of a kind of a form of a gas.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 8 Note A classification is like an upside-town tree. The passive form is used frequently in sentence of classification. –Scientists classify mercury as a metal. (active) –Mercury is classified as a metal. (passive) The present simple tense is the commonly used tense in science writing because it expresses universals.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 9 Structure An article can be divided into several paragraphs. A paragraph can be further divided into sentences. Each paragraph contains a main concept and material that supports the concept. The central though or idea is usually stated in a topic sentence.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 10 Structure (cont.) The topic sentence is frequently but not always the first sentence of the paragraph. (announce) Sometimes the topic sentence is the second sentence of a paragraph, or the last sentence. (summarize) The paragraph should cover everything about the topic sentence and only what is in the paragraph.