How to Write a Classification Essay

How to Write a Classification Essay

A significant percentage of university students are often tasked with writing classification essays in the course of their respective curriculums. Classification essays are primarily given to assist lecturers in the gauging of their students` mastery of categorizing information grounded on specific attributes. It could come off as an impossible task especially for those who have never encountered such types of academic papers. However, the moment you learn the most appropriate framework of writing classification essays, you will appreciate that it isn’t such an uphill task as you had earlier thought. If you are wondering where to start when writing a classification essay, then the article below is the right tool to add to your writing arsenal.

Understanding Classification Essays

If you are new to the art of how to write a classification essay, the first step you will be needed to take is understanding what is meant by the term “classification essay.”

It is an academic paper that is built to display your ability to generalize and categorize information. Writing a classification essay demands for students to master how to put items into various groups and provide examples that match each of these groups. It all boils down to you to choose the classification criteria that should be used, but you are required to have a rationale behind your reasoning.

Structuring Classification Essays

When crafting a classification essay, among the first steps that you should take is working on mastering your way around the essay`s structure. There are myriads of methods that you can use, but for this article, we`ll use the three-part strategy. This, however, does not mean that you are restricted to using this approach alone. Once you have grasped the concept behind these types of essays, you can incorporate whichever method you find suitable to your cause.

  • The Introduction

Just like any other kind of essay, your kick off mark should be at the introduction. It is vital for you to vividly shed some light on the topic to be talked about in order to enable the reader to follow through the entire categorizing process. On top of this, you should give your readers a good insight into the objectives of your classification essay. Some of the questions you should answer include; “Why do these items have to get categorized?”

When wrapping up your classification essay`s introduction, it is prudent to end with the paper`s thesis statement. This will assist you in both putting the finger on the groups that will be discussed in the paper`s body, and in offering a quick account of the rationale used for all of them.

The following is an example of an ideal introduction paragraph that can be used to tackle the question of how to write a classification essay.

“It is a chilly afternoon in August, and throughout the state of Miami, people are gathered, watching a thrilling baseball game. Equipped with steamy drinks and snacks to chase away the cold, they make their way to their reserved seats in gigantic stadiums while others take comfort in small pubs. Regardless of the place, the game is going down; you will hardly lack 3 kinds of baseball lovers: Diehards, the Summer supporters and party-holics.”

Based on this introductory example, do you notice how expectations have been crafted? The details have been used to create a certain setting and also as bread crumbs, easing the reader into the essay until he/she reaches the unveiling of the different kinds of fans. On top of this, the titles given to these fans make us anticipate that there will be more descriptions later in the essay. An outstanding writer will ensure that these expectations are met in the classification essay`s body.

  • The Body

Classification essay examples usually have bodies that are composed of a minimum of three paragraphs where every paragraph is supposed to talk about another category. You can begin by expounding on the criteria used for each of the classes while also talking about their various strengths and weak points. While doing all the above, it is prudent also not to forget to include relevant examples to back up your claims.

Depending on the number of words required for your essay, you can choose whether or not to make your categories shorter. If you decide to do this, you should be careful to ensure that there are vivid transitions as you move into a different category.

  • The Conclusion

Your classification essay conclusion is the bit where you are needed to come up with a form of a summary of all the classes that have been covered in your classification writing. Based on the classification essay subject at hand, you can choose to recommend a particular category over another. However, if you do this, ensure that classification essay conclusion talks about how and why you made such a conclusion.

Below is an example of a classification essay conclusion on “Baseball fans” (The same essay that was used as an example in the introductory paragraph).

“The world of baseball is likely to endure a difficult time coping without these three kinds of fans. The Diehard fans` support for their teams never recedes and stands the test of time even over decades. The party-holics, on the other hand, provide their teams with a significant percentage of the cash that team owners require to pay for the best players in the market. Summer supporters breath life to stadiums and lighten up the mood and morale of their players.”

In this conclusion, do you see the introduction has been connected with this conclusion? With such links in place, your professors are bound to give you exceptional scores due to the completeness of your piece.

In Summary

When organizing your classification essays samples, it is good to try out the various types of formats you come across, but ensure that you preserve this basic strategy in mind: Your classification essay introduction should identify the subject you`ll write about as well as the approaches you will take. Your body should expound more on the strategies you decide to take while the conclusion should knit all your points together and bring forth the general objective of your classification.

Planning How to Craft Your Classification Essay

Having already covered how classification essay examples should look like, the next step should be preparing on the actual writing of your classification essay. To start with, it is crucial to note that such assignments cannot be crafted without first coming up with a clear strategic plan for implementation. You need to do adequate preparation to have a masterpiece for your end product. In light of this, below are some of the guidelines you should consider when planning for your classification essays samples.

  • Brainstorming Ideas

In case your lecturers didn`t allocate a topic for your essay, then you should begin by brainstorming to conjure practical ideas. Your aim should be narrowing down on a set of beliefs or even people that can get segregated rationally and gathered into groups. It is imperative for you to craft something which possesses categories with enough space for comparison. However, you will do well to distance yourself from topics that are laced with plenty of classes.

It is also crucial for you to note that your aim should be having 4 to 6 classes in your classification essay based on the paper`s required length. With this number of categories at hand, you shouldn`t have trouble coming up with short but comprehensive comparisons. In addition to this, they won`t be too many to the extent of preventing you from going deep in your organization criteria.

  • Selecting Classes for Your Classification Essay

The minute you have chosen a topic, it is crucial for you to start thinking about the categories they should get divided into. There are some topics which could have several options hence requiring you to choose the perspective which you will use when approaching the paper. An excellent example of this is if your classification essay is talking about a group of animals. You should make up your mind whether you will categorize them according to their age, species, appearance, productivity or by using an entirely different angle. All your categories are supposed to possess a specific basis of organization.

  • Arranging Things

It is vital for you to consider the order with which you will use to organize the classes when it gets to the point of expounding on them. Making notes in the form of bullet points for the points that should be discussed in every category could assist you in showcasing similarities that will assist you create transition sentences for better flow of your essay. It is advisable for you to reflect on the paragraphs you had discussed beforehand to come up with comprehensive comparisons. Therefore, it is only logical for you to put your classes in orders that can adapt best to such an approach.

  • Come Up With a Thesis

Your thesis during classification writing forms an essential component of your essay`s introduction as it helps in forging the perspective of classification essays samples. It is crucial for you to come up with this during the opening stages of your writing because it assists in ensuring that your writing remains on the right track. Begin by stating what is being divided into categories, list these categories and expound on the rationale or framework used in their classification. Your essay`s thesis could also shed some light on the essence of categorizing these ideas.

Once you have completed these steps, you can count yourself well equipped to get on with the actual writing of the classification essay. It is also wise for you to avoid expecting to finish your classification in just a single sitting successfully. You should be prepared to create a number of different drafts before you can end up with a masterpiece.

General Tips on Crafting Classification Essays

Now that we have covered the structure of classification essays and have also seen how a concrete plan of approaching essays is crafted, we will look into some guidelines that will assist you to polish up your classification essay.

  • Ensure that you have both defined and described all your categories. You can begin by forging a list of their attributes and properties, followed by discussing them.
  • You are required to provide a number of descriptive Search for examples that offer a common representation of the category in question and have a similar number of examples for every class.
  • Compare the information you will have crafted in all your essay`s classes. This will assist you in pointing out the differences as well as the common ground between all your categories.

Above are but a few general tips to assist you in getting started when writing classification essays. The trick to being successful with classification writing all boils down to how proper your preparation is. Once you spend the better time of the time allocated for writing in strategizing, you will be surprised at just how easy the remaining portion of your assignment will fall into place.

Conclusion

As we have seen above, classification essays samples require you to come up with an essay based on objects or ideas being organized according to the characteristics that they share. This article has shed some light on the different parts of a classification essay that you should always include, i.e., from the introduction to the classification essay conclusion. In addition to this, it has talked about how you should strategize before beginning your classification essay as well as the general guidelines that you should consider when polishing up your essay.

We hope that you have been able to follow through this guide on how to write classification essay. With this tool at hand, we hope your classification essay writing skills will take a turn for the better and that you will never experience any difficulties in coming up with a masterpiece in such academic papers.

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