Classification and Division Essays

By: Sean Savoie 

            Like most modes of development in an essay, classification and division, as a technique, requires precision and practice. Division, as is clear from the term, involves dividing people, places, things, or ideas into distinct groups. Classification is the act of further categorizing these things into specific group types which can be shown to have similar characteristics. Of course we do divide and classify in our everyday lives: Which foods do I enjoy? What are my various options for getting around town? Who are my real friends, casual friends, and acquaintances? Etc… Dividing and classifying seems to come natural to humans. One might say it comes too quickly, as when people over-generalize about or discriminate against other people, countries, races, or religions. Nevertheless, the ability to accurately classify and divide is essential to organizing in general; it is, therefore, necessary in the academic and business worlds. Thus, the classification and division essay is a fantastic tool to master.

            The primary goal of an essay is to convey a thesis (controlling idea) to the reader. Of course, this is often to inform, yet it may also be to entertain or persuade. Many stand-up comedians have long used classification and division to point out and exaggerate the characteristics of one type of person or thing. A comedian may form an extensive routine about three different types of women, for example. So, keep in mind that the purpose and form of an essay are different aspects to consider. Understanding your purpose makes this type of essay much easier to write because the audience you are writing to become more clear to you. In many other modes of development, such as a thesis or argument, it is easy to write to “the educated readers”. However, classification and division essays must approach the topic with a specific angle or sensitivity to the nature of the reader in order to have the right effect. Once this is determined, the writer can better choose which other modes of development are effective in describing the classification and division.

Take, for example, the different sections of a supermarket. If your goal is to inform immigrants to the U.S. about how to more efficiently shop in a huge American supermarket --something which can be very confusing even for us Americans--, you may consider whether your audience is primarily male or female. Assuming males will become more frustrated when they get lost and have less of an interest in shopping to begin with, you may classify and divide the supermarket in an informative yet humorous way, making the adventure into the massive, scary supermarket a more interesting experience. Keep in mind that this may include narration, definition, comparison and contrast, and other techniques, such as hyperbole (exaggeration), metaphor, simile, sarcasm, etc… However, as a classification and division essay, the primary form of the writing involves separating the whole into various parts. A supermarket is, of course, already divided in this way, with delineated sections of canned goods, dairy, household products, foreign foods, fruits and vegetables, deli, and so on. Classifying other things may not be so easy, and certainly a clearly divided store such as a supermarket usually has some items that fit many descriptions. How about Thai hot sauce? Is it in the spice section, foreign foods section, condiments sections?

            OK, we should take a look at one example of dividing in order to better understand the function of this type of essay as applies to the world of academics. Say, for example, upon entering an Introduction to Personality Psychology class, your professor tells you to write a short essay answering the question “What types of people are there?” Your professor also says not to divide into more than five groups. Hhhhmmmm. Well, it may be best to begin brainstorming the different ways that people may be divided into groups, thus classifying them as one type of person. This shouldn’t be so difficult because we tend to do this naturally when we stereotype people. The questions become: 1) Which system of classification and division will be most useful for the assignment? And, to a lesser degree, 2) What does the professor really expect? A brainstorming session, remember, is the act of creating an exhaustive list of as many possibilities as can be written down, without consideration as to whether any one thing is good or bad, correct or incorrect.

            Examples: People can be divided into…… lower, middle, or upper economic class… happy or unhappy… married, single, divorced, or widowed… gay or straight… religious or non-religious… Asian, Western, African, Arab, or Indian… urban, suburban, or rural… successful or unsuccessful… young, middle-aged, or elderly… smokers or non-smokers… speakers of English or non-speakers of English… good or evil… greedy or generous… modern or old-fashioned… atheistic, agnostic, or theistic… healthy or unhealthy… etc…etc…etc…  You can see that the list could go on and on. In a personality psychology class, a student may be expected to divide people into groups that may be examined from the perspective of psychology. A student may be more likely to choose ‘lower, middle, or upper class’, ‘happy or unhappy’, or ‘urban, suburban, or rural’, all of which lend themselves to analysis through psychology. Notice that an essay dividing people into ‘happy and unhappy’ will require a bit more definition. ‘Happiness’ is an abstract idea and cannot be divided quite as easily and clearly as ‘economic class’. More effective essays give examples or use narratives that are accessible to the audience. The most frequent problem young writers have when putting together an essay of this type is losing track of the main point. Sometimes a less experienced writer will try to pull the whole essay together in the conclusion. This is not effective and rarely fools a good writing teacher. The thesis, though possibly stated or unstated (implied), must stay at the core of the entire essay. Remember that an essay is made strong through its coherence to a main point, the thesis.

            At this point, some readers of this article may still be wondering what this classification and division article is really like. I realize this and will, therefore, write a classification and division article in the next issue of the New York Community Times. Seeing as so many students enjoy making jokes about the different types of teachers they have, it may be a perfect opportunity to point out that teacher also like to have fun making jokes about the various types of students they teach. The article in the next issue of this newspaper will be about the various types of students in American schools. Until then, have an excellent week!