How to Write a Classification Essay

Classification essay is also known as a division essay. The purpose of writing a classification essay or any other type of essay, in fact, is to make a student think and write creatively.

In that specific assignment you have to define categories of a specific subject; i.e. you have to put down things in categories, as you explain the criteria of categorization in order to make your essay flow. A classification essay is very suitable for engineering and science students because often of times, science major requires definitions and categorizations. However, many students are assigned to write a categorization essay. You can be assigned to write a classification essay on a quotidian problem, a book, movie, etc. For example, you might be required to write a classification essay on music bands. The most essential things in writing a classification essay are that the tone of the essay must be professional, the criteria of organization clearly stated and slang must be avoided.

Useful tips in writing a classification essay

As in any kind of essay, you start with an introduction and state your thesis clearly. You have to explain what topic you will cover in your essay and the classification criteria of it. You should provide an overview of the categorizations of the topic. For example, you can write “The types of cars can be divided into: sports cars, family cars, luxury cars, city cars, hot hatch cars, estate cars like wagons, off-road cars, convertible cars, minivans or multi purposes vehicles, campers, salon or sedan cars, etc.”

After that you continue writing a classification essay with supporting paragraphs. Each supporting paragraph should outline and explain every category. You must have a strong topic sentence and then clarify the characteristics of the category. In order to write a good classification essay, first you have to read the assignment, understand it well, choose a suitable topic and then gather the right supporting paragraphs and characteristics. A good classification essay requires at least five supporting paragraphs. If necessary, use different sources and quotations. You can also organize your supporting paragraphs by importance; from the most important to the least important.

There are some key words and phrases which are typical in writing a classification essay such as: this type of, several kinds of, is categorized by, classified according to, can be divided into, in this category, the first kind, the second kind, the third kind, the first type, the second type, the third type, the first group, the second group, the third group, etc. Those are all phrases that divide and classify things. Remember, at the very beginning there was mentioned that the classification essay is also a division one, right? Therefore, it would be nice if you used comparison to have cohesion in the structure of your essay. It would be great if you managed to refer the first paragraph to the second one and then to the third.

Finish writing a classification essay with a conclusion. In the conclusion you can restate your thesis but the most important thing is to summarize the categories you have provided above. Put together different approaches and types you have used; you may give a final brief comment and summarize everything so far.

When writing a classification essay it’s very important to keep in mind a simple and clear format, introduction that states your thesis, supporting paragraphs that prove your thesis, preferably five ones, and a strong conclusion that summarizes it all.

Once again, when writing a classification essay make sure you understand the assignment, find proper topic, provide strong supporting evidence, and finally write a convincing conclusion. Use dividing phrases and key words as well as proper language. Proofread your essay for grammatical and spelling mistakes. Make sure it flows in logical, organized and convincing manner.