Comp 101 Assignment Sheet

Essay IV: Classification
Assignment
Choose one of the topics given and write an essay organized by a classification that uses a single basis. The essay must consist of at least 5 paragraphs. Remember that the basis of the classification will be logical and the categories will not overlap. Be sure to clearly label categories, giving both general and specific examples for each category.
Length: 500-750 words; Thesis Type: 3-Part
Directions
  • Avoid obvious classifications that would not be significant or useful to the reader. One the same basis, avoid humorous classifications that are excessively silly or purposeless.
  • Develop each category with examples & concrete details to "show" your abstract ideas to be true.
  • Arrange your categories in logical order and proofread your work.
  • Use transitions to sew your sentences together, especially those sentences that connect two paragraphs together.
  • Have an opening paragraph that orients the reader to your topic, clarifies the basis for the classification, and leads to the thesis statement.
  • Your paragraph returns to the thesis and smoothly ends the essay.
  • Try to make the classification revelant to the reader. Why should anyone care about the types of people or things you are describing?
  • Establish the relevance of your classification in your introduction.
  • Label the "types" with parallel wording.
  • Consistently apply the classification basis to each type, avoiding the possibility of overlapping types.
Topic Choices
1. Consider some obstacle, limiting circumstance, or other frustrations in your life--for instance, at work, at school, or at home--and write an essay in which you classify the possible responses and then arguethat one of these is best. If you prefer, or if your life seems to have been free of obstacles and frustrations, write the same kind of essay about possible responses to some opportunity.
2. Classify the kinds of action that may be taken to accomplish a purpose (such as purchasing a car or a home, getting a raise in pay, changing someone's attitude toward you).
3. Classify and describe the kinds of territorial behavior you have observed at one or more events (for example, at basketball games, in classrooms, in elevators, in your living quarters, at parties, in meetings, and so on).
4. Classify pressure you have felt in difficult or stressful situations (for example, performing in some sport, meeting expenses, fulfiling expectations of friends and relatives).
5. Classify 3 kinds of _________________ (you decide) concerning college life.

6. Classify 3 kinds of...street people, students, drop-outs, commercials for pain relievers, bargains in commercial air travel, suburban lawns, mortgages, cleanliness, dirt, own choice.
7. Do you have a completely different idea? First discuss the idea with Mrs. Kennedy. Do not begin the writing process until your idea has been approved.