OCTOBER 23 – 24, 2012 AP English Language

Exposition: Classification and Division It is important for readers as well as writers to be able to sort material or ideas into major categories. By answering the question, What goes together and why? writers and readers can make connections between things that might otherwise seem unrelated.

Exposition: Classification and Division “Some books are meant to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” Most of the time, a writer’s task is to develop his or her own categories, to find a distinctive way of breaking down a larger idea or concept into parts. Read Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” excerpt

Exposition: Classification and Division Principle of Classification Division. In writing courses, classification more commonly refers to breaking a thing down into its types, classes, categories, or kinds and then discussing each one. For example, computers for some time now have been divided into several classes: minicomputers, microcomputers, and macrocomputers. And, if you have ever taken biology, you know that terrestrial life is divided into into plant and animal "kingdoms"; the kingdoms, broken down into phyla (the plural of phylum); phyla, into classes; classes, into families; families, into genera; and genera, into species. Each of these divisions represents a grouping of types.

Exposition: Classification and Division Principle of Classification In some technical reports, certain paragraphs or sections use a kind of writing and pattern of organization known as classification. Classification means either (1) explaining which class a thing belongs to or (2) dividing a group of things into classes. In planning your essays, you may find that classification is an effective way to present background information to your readers.

Exposition: Classification and Division Principle of Classification True classification is when the writer shows why the object belongs to one specific category.

Exposition: Classification and Division Principle of Classification Several key words indicate that classifications are being discussed: classes, kinds, types, categories, sorts, or groups. Classification can be quite useful in technical reports: it breaks the discussion of a subject into smaller chunks, and it can make the job of evaluation and selection much easier.

Exposition: Classification and Division Read and Discuss pages #133 and #134 in the Prose Models book. Read “Kinds of Discipline” pg # Answer question #2 “Suggestions for Writing” on page #138. Record responses in your journal. Read “Hoppers” pg 142.

Homework! Craft a classification and division essay based on ONE of the following prompts:  Study habits  Reality TV shows  Cheaters/Cheating (If I Were a Boy)  First dates  Different uses of social networking sites (Myspace, Facebook, etc.)