1. Do Now: Effectiveness of teachers at JFK – Divide into categories (break larger whole into smaller parts). Classify (sort/group) the following into categories; Rank by healthiest to least healthy, tastiest to least tasty, etc.: French friesMilkCarrotsCake Ice creamCookiesApplesPasta BroccoliBananasNachosRice KaleChickenFishWaffles SteakEggsPotatoesJuice CandyCoffeeChipsSalad

2. Classification/Division Essay

3. What is Classification and Division? Division: – Process of separating items into categories. – Complex subjects are easier understood when broken down into smaller groups. – Example: Complex problem: homelessness Three distinct groups in homeless shelters: alcoholics, mental patients, and battered women. Necessary to appreciate the needs of each group to address the problems of the homeless.

4. What is Classification and Division? Classification: – Process of separating items into categories and rating or ranking the categories according to a common standard. – Example: Categories of burns: first, second, or third degree Classified by degree of tissue damage

5. Why Use Classification and Division? More than comparing two items or enumerating examples. Divide/Classify in order to: – Make sense of complex ideas by putting them into useful and coherent order. “The Ways We Lie” – reasons for lying and types of lying are complex; essay defines types and examines causes and effects – Identify relationships among the parts. “The Ways We Lie” – shows that ignoring what we consider harmless lies causes us to ignore harmful lies.

6. Division Develop distinct categories: – Divide by price, manufacturer, types, or nation of origin (Do not mix categories: price, manufacturer, and nation of origin in one essay). Develop meaningful categories: – Rank Presidents by politics, attitudes toward Supreme Court, or religious beliefs not horoscopes, pets, or nicknames. Avoid minimizing complexity of a subject: – Only three types of bosses or four types of teenagers.

7. Classification Clearly state principle/method of classification: – “What Me, Showing Off” – acceptable and unacceptable ways of showing off Measure each category against same standard: – Narcissistic show-offs unacceptable; Insecure show-offs acceptable – Narcissistic show-offs unacceptable; Insecure show-offs harmless

8. Planning the Essay Choose a subject. Select and define a clear method or standard of evaluation. Create a thesis: Provide a conclusion about the categories themselves. Tell readers your purpose: why your categories are significant or valuable Simply listing different kinds of investments is pointless Instead, your thesis might note their relative strengths and weaknesses and make recommendations based on your assessment

9. Sample Outline Thesis statement: Most readers know Mark Twain as a novelist, but his non-fiction works – his travel narratives, essays, letters, and especially his autobiography – deserve more attention. Travel Narratives Roughing It The Innocents Abroad Life on the Mississippi Essays “Fennimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses” “How to Tell a Story” “The Awful German Language” Letters To W. D. Howells To his family Autobiography

10. Grammar in Context: Using a Colon to Introduce Your Categories In your introduction, you often give readers an overview by listing the categories you will discuss. Use a colon (“College Pressures”): I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure. Items in a list are always stated in parallel terms.

11. Checklist 1. Have you clearly defined your goal -- to write a division or classification paper? 2. Do you make meaningful divisions or classifications -- does your paper oversimplify a complex subject? 3. Are your categories clearly defined? 4. Do you avoid overlapping categories? 5. Do you use parallel patterns to develop categories and items? 6. In classification, do you use a single standard of evaluation? 7. Do all the parts of your subject clearly fit into a single category? Are there any items left over?