Chapter 12 Classification

Lisa Patton
English 98
10/18/11 Chapter 12 Classification Summary

Classification means to put persons, places, or things into groups or classes based on their characteristics. Classification deals with more than one unit, so the subject is plural. The four steps to classify efficiently are following this procedure. 1. Select a plural subject. 2. Decide on a principle for grouping the units of your subject. 3. Establish the groups, or classes. 4. Write about the classes. When selecting a subject for instances neighbors putting the neighbors into groups such as affluent, comfortable, and struggling helps to identify the classes or groups. Each of these sets is a classification system
and could be the focus of one paragraph in your essay. The principle controls the grouping of the neighbors. For this grouping the principle could be wealth. When grouping all the classes in any group must adhere to the controlling principle for that group. The classes should not overlap in each group. Classification can take two forms: simple and complex. The simple form of classification does not go beyond the main divisions in its grouping. The grouping could be listed like this example.
Subject: Neighbors
Principle: Involvement
Classes: 1. Friendly 2. Meddlesome 3. Private The complex form of classifications are based on one principle and then subgrouped by another related principle. The following example classifies neighbors by their neighborly involvement. 1. Friendly A. Civic – minded B. Want to be accepted C. Gregarious

2. Meddlesome A. Controlling B. Emotionally needy C. Suspicious of others
3. Private A. Shy B.
Snobbish C. Secretive Most papers of classification will be simple ( based on one principle) in concept, informative in purpose, and organized class by class. The basic patterns of classification consists of classes, the initial outline is predictable: Using Roman- numerals headings for the classes. Using the writing process needs to be done in three steps. Step one is exploring the topic by brainstorming, clustering, or free writing. Step two is organizing the paper. Write an outline into three categories. Write a topic sentence, and them two to three sub topics under that sentence. Step three: revise paragraph or essay. Read aloud and use check for coherence. Following these steps and the steps listed above will guide you through the classification process of writing. A few brainstorming ideas would be to classify cars, economy, sporty, luxury. The cars could list benefits to both and prices of both. Animals could be classified such as Bears, brown bears, black bears, and polar bears. The bears could be classified into areas they live in or climates. Temperaments of people could be classified, fearful, feisty, and flexible. The temperaments could list benefits of each temperament, and downfalls of each temperament. Transportation could be classified, such as airplanes, trains, and automobile the benefit of both or the cost of both. Theme parks could be classified as fun for all, like Disneyland, adventurous like Universal Studious, thrill seeker parks
like Six flags, these can be classified in levels of adventure.