Writing classification essays

A classification essay uses one of the key skills required not only for writing other essay types but for living life generally: the ability to sort ideas and things into categories. Fortunately, most students already have the skills required to write a classification essay, since almost all students are studying in a field that requires them to sort out concepts. For this reason, a classification essay, once a student has some control of academic writing, should come fairly easily.

Useful strategy for writing classification essays

There are two steps involved in planning a classification essay. The first step is to decide what kind of thing you want to classify. If you have an open-ended assignment (such as "Write a classification essay about something you encounter every day"), it's best to pick a topic that you know something about. If you are into computers, write about computers. If you are into art, write about different styles of painting.

The most important thing to remember when choosing a classification essay topic is that it should be representative of a distinct category. For example, computers are types of things that belong in a category of their own. A classification essay about types of technology, meanwhile, would probably be too broad for a typical English class essay.

Argumentative and persuasive essays

In argumentative essays we try to convince others to agree with our facts, share our values, accept our argument and conclusions, and adopt our way of thinking. To strengthen your argumentative essays, you can turn to AIDA method of persuasion.

Helpful strategy for writing argumentative essays

• establishing facts to support an argument
• clarifying relevant values for your audience
• prioritizing, editing, and/or sequencing the facts and values in importance to build the argument
• forming and stating conclusions
• "persuading" your audience that your conclusions are based upon the agreed-upon facts and shared values
• having the confidence to communicate your "argument" in writing
• showing awareness of counter-arguments and defend your argument

Steps for developing your own argumentative essay

• Read all materials available that are relevant to the topic.
• Identify the main topics covered by the arguments that you have read about your issue. This is so that you have a list of different topics for your paragraphs.
• Use the topics that you have identified in step 2 as your group headings for organizing your research notes.
• Make a decision about what your main conclusion will be.
• Look back at the paragraph structure and apply it to your own essay.
• Draft a detailed plan for your essay. In this plan note down the information that you will put in each paragraph. Use note form, not complete sentences.
• Begin writing a draft of the body of your argumentative essay. Turn to words & paragraphs page again.
• Check your writing for the following things:
  • do your paragraphs present arguments which support your main conclusion as non-debatable or as facts?
  • do your paragraphs present arguments which oppose your main conclusion as debatable and possibly not true?
  • have you clearly marked the place where you shift from the opposing arguments to the supporting arguments with a contrasting connective?
  • have you used connectives, pronouns, and referencing words to make your paragraph cohesive?
• Draft your introduction.
• Draft your conclusion.
• Check your draft introduction and conclusion. Redraft if necessary.
• Now that you have a complete draft of your argumentative essay check it again for the following things:
  • Does it provide strong support for your main conclusion?
  • Can you make the text more cohesive?
  • Are your verbs, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure correct?
• Check the final draft and write a cover sheet.

Investigation paper writing techniques

Investigative writing begins with asking questions and finding informed, sources: published material, knowledgeable people, or both. In most cases, collecting information in an investigation requires the ability to use a library and then to summarize, paraphrase, and quote key ideas accurately from other people's writing. In addition, personal interviews are often helpful or necessary. For an investigation, you might talk to an expert or an authority, an eyewitness or participant in an event, or even the subject of a personality profile. Finally, you may wish to survey the general public to determine opinions, trends, or reactions. Once you have collected your information, you must then present your findings in a written form suitable for your audience, with clear references in the text to the sources of your information.

Investigative writing uses the following techniques:

• Beginning with an interesting title and a catchy lead sentence or paragraph. The first few sentences arouse your readers' interest and focus their attention on the subject.
• Giving background information by answering relevant who, what, when, where, and why questions. Answering the reporter's "Wh" questions ensures that readers have sufficient information to understand your report.
• Stating the main idea, question, or focus of the investigation. The purpose of a report is to convey information as clearly as possible. Readers shouldn't have to guess the main idea.
• Summarizing or quoting information from written or oral sources; citing sources in the text. Quote accurately any statistics, data, or sentences from your sources. Cite authors and titles.
• Writing in a readable and interesting style appropriate for the intended audience. Clear, direct, and readable language is essential in a report. Use graphs and charts as appropriate.

Reports within this section (see subsection links) illustrate three common types of investigative writing: the summary of a single book or article, the investigation of a controversial issue (using multiple sources), and the profile of a person. The three types may overlap (an investigation of a controversial issue may contain a personality profile, for instance), and all three types may use summaries of written material, questionnaires, and interviews. Some investigative reports are brief, intended to be only short news items, while others are full-length features.

The intended audience for each report is often determined by the publication in which the report appears: Psychology Today assumes that its readers are interested in personality and behavior; Discover magazine is for readers interested in popular science; and readers of Ms. magazine expect coverage of contemporary issues concerning women.

Evaluation essay writing: shaping strategies

The shaping strategies you have used in previous essays may be helpful, but the strategies that follow are particularly appropriate for shaping evaluations.

Analysis by Criteria

Often, evaluations are organized by criteria. You decide which criteria are appropriate for the subject and audience, and then you use those criteria to outline the essay. Your first few paragraphs of introduction establish your thesis or overall claim and then give background information: what the subject is, why you are evaluating it, what the competition is, and how you gathered your data. Then you order the criteria according to some plan: chronological order, spatial order, order of importance, or another logical sequence. Phyllis Richman's evaluation of the Hunan Dynasty restaurant follows the criteria pattern:

• Introductory paragraphs: information about the restaurant (location, hours, prices), general description of Chinese restaurants today, and overall claim: The Hunan Dynasty is reliable, a good value, and versatile.
• Criterion #1/Judgment: Good restaurants should have an attractive setting and atmosphere / Hunan Dynasty is attractive.
• Criterion #2/Judgment: Good restaurants should give strong priority to service / Hunan Dynasty has, despite an occasional glitch, expert service.
• Criterion #3/Judgment: Restaurants that serve moderately priced food should have quality main dishes / Main dishes at Hunan Dynasty are generally good but not often memorable. [Most important criterion, the quality of the main dishes, is saved for last.]
• Concluding paragraphs: Hunan Dynasty is a top-flight neighborhood restaurant.

Comparison and contrast

Many evaluations compare two subjects in order to demonstrate why one is preferable to another. Books, films, restaurants, courses, music, writers, scientists, historical events, sports — all can be evaluated using comparison and contrast. In evaluating two oriental restaurants, for example, student writer Chris Cameron uses a comparison-and-contrast structure to shape her essay. In the following body paragraph from her essay, Cameron compares two restaurants, the Unicorn and the Yakitori, on the basis of her first criterion — an atmosphere that seemed authentically oriental.

Of the two restaurants, we preferred the authentic atmosphere of the Unicorn to the cultural confusion at the Yakitori. At first impression, the Yakitori looked like a converted truck-stop, sparsely decorated with a few bamboo slats and Japanese print fabric hanging in slices as Bruce Springsteen wailed loudly in the ears of the customers. The feeling at the Unicorn was quite the opposite as we entered a rcom that seemed transported from Chinatown. The whole room had a red tint from the light shining through the flowered curtains, and the place looked truly authentic from the Chinese patterned rug on the wall to the elaborate dragon on the ceiling. Soft oriental music played as the customers sipped tea from small porcelain cups and ate fortune cookies.

Cameron used the following alternating comparison-and-contrast shape for her whole essay:

• Introductory paragraph(s)
• Thesis: Although several friends recommended the Yakitori, we preferred the Unicorn for its more authentic atmosphere, courteous service, and well-prepared food.
• Authentic atmosphere: Yakitori vs. Unicorn
• Courteous service: Yakitori vs. Unicom
• Well-prepared food: Yakitori vs. Unicorn
• Concluding paragraph(s)

Cameron might have used a block comparison-and-contrast structure for her essay. In this organizational pattern, Cameron's outline would be as follows:

• Introductory paragraph(s)
• Thesis: Although several friends recommended the Yakitori, we preferred the Unicorn for its more authentic atmosphere, courteous service, and well-prepared food
• The Yakitori: atmosphere, service, and food
• The Unicorn: atmosphere, service, and food as compared to the Yakitori
• Concluding paragraph(s)

Chronological order

Writers often use a chronological order to organize their claims and criteria. In her review of Star Wars, for example, Judith Crist shapes her evaluation by following a natural chronological order:

1. Comments on Lucas's previous film, American Graffiti.
2. Review of the plot.
3. Evaluation of the climax of the film.
4. Comment on the viewer's good feelings at the end of the film.

Causal analysis

Analyzing the causes or effects of a place, object, event, or policy can shape an entire evaluation. Works of art or performances, for example, oftenjneasure the effect on the viewers or audience. Mark Stevens claims that Goya'si painting has "severairctefmife" effects on the viewer; those specific effects become the evidence that supports the claim.

• Criterion #1/Judgment: The iconography, or use of symbols, contributes to the powerful effect of this picture on the viewer.
  • Evidence: The church as a symbol of hopefulness contrasts with the cruelty of the execution. The spire on the church emphasizes for the viewer how powerless the Church is to save the victims.
• Criterion #2/Judgment: The use of light contributes to the powerful effect of the picture on the viewer.
  • Evidence: The light casts an intense glow on the scene, and its glaring, lurid, and artificial qualities create the same effect on the viewer that modern art sometimes does.
• Criterion #3/Judgment: The composition or use of formal devices contributes to the powerful effect of the picture on the viewer.
  • Evidence: The diagonal lines scissor the picture into spaces that give the viewer a claustrophobic feeling. The corpse is foreshortened, so that it looks as though the dead man is bidding the viewer welcome.

Title, Introduction, and Conclusion

Titles of evaluative writing tend to be short and succinct, stating what product, service, work of art, or performance you are evaluating ("The Gettysburg Address," "Goya's The Third of May, 1808") or suggesting a key question or conclusion in the evaluation ("How Much Car for $3990?" "'Feel Good' Film").

Introductory paragraphs provide background information and description and usually give an overall claim or thesis. In some cases, however, the overall claim comes last, in a concluding "Recommendations" section, or in a final summary paragraph. If the overall claim appears in the opening paragraphs, the concluding paragraph may simply review the strengths or weaknesses, or just advise the reader: This is or is not worth seeing, reading, watching, doing, or buying.

Attention, Interest, Desire, Action (AIDA)

Attention, interest, sesire, action (or AIDA) is an effective technique for persuasion.

The ability to persuade is a very useful skill in business. The ability to write effective persuasuve messages will help you significantly in your career (which is why argumentative and persuasuve essays are quite often assigned in schools and colleges). You might want to persuade your supervisor you are experienced enough for promotion or argue for a certain point in your team. The following AIDA principle will help you understand the nature of persuation and help you write effective argumentative essay papers at school and persuasive messages at work.

Attention

1. Show that you know your audience and its concerns.
2. Formulate and tailor your statements so that they do not sound like bribes or suspicious high-pressure sales
3. Introduce a benefit for your audience
4. Effective introduction: think of a statement that your audience will agree with, sincere request for help, rhetorical questions, list what has been done or undone to solve the problem

Interest and Desire

1. When delivering your message, make sure you let the readers know why you are writing
   • State the benefits that the audience will receive
   • Explain in detail why you ask them to do something
2. Describe the action or the object in question in its entirety
3. Include all facts necessary to convince your audience that participation will be easy, important, enjoyable, benefitial
4. In your request for contribution, make sure you explain the facts, problems, suggestions, as well as roles of all participants, including the audience
5. Describe the possible direct and indirect benefits thoroughly
6. Anticipate and provide counter arguments for possible objections
   • Acknowledge objections, and calmly show more important factors
   • If possible, state counter arguments that denounce the possible objections
   • Do not focus much on this part; do not devote more than one-third of your message (however, in some cases this section must be extended)
   • Try looking at objections from an alternate standpoint and turn them into advantages
7. Introduce any enclosures after you have delivered the message, and explain what to do with them or what information they offer

Action

1. Confidently ask for audience’s cooperation
2. Emphasize the positive results of their action
3. Make the desired action clear and easy
4. If applicable, include a due date for a response
5. Avoid negative or tentative statements and only include positive and confident ones (”If you can do anything about it..” vs. “To make your contribution, …”)
6. Link the final sentence of the message with a statement from the introduction

Writing about observations

Observing is essential to good writing. Whether you are writing in a journal, doing a laboratory report for a science class, dashing off a memo at work, or writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper, keen observation is essential. Writing or verbalizing what you see helps you discover and learn more about your environment. Sometimes your purpose is limited to yourself: You observe and record to help you understand your world or yourself better. At other times, your purpose extends to a wider audience: You want to share what you have learned with others, to help them learn as well. No matter who your audience is or what your subject may be, however, your task is to see and to help your readers see.

Of course, observing involves more than just "seeing." Good writers draw on all their senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing. In addition, however, experienced writers also notice what is absent, or not there. The smell of food that should be coming from the kitchen but isn't. A friend who usually is present but now is absent. The absolute quiet in the air that precedes an impending storm. Writers should also look for changes in their subject — from light to dark, from rough to smooth, from bitter to sweet, or from noise to sudden silence. Good writers learn to use their previous experience and their imagination to draw comparisons and create images. Does a sea urchin look and feel like a pincushion with the pins stuck in the wrong way? Does the room feel as cramped and airless as the inside of a microwave oven? Finally, good writers write from a specific point of view or role: a student describing basic laws of physics or an experienced worker in a mental health clinic describing the clientele.

Depending on the purpose and the audience, writing from observation can be relatively objective, as when you record what is actually, demonstrably there; or it can be more subjective, as when you suggest how you feel, think, or react to a subject. A writer might describe a bicycle objectively as "a secondhand 1984 blue 10-speed Trek, with a 23-inch frame, 27-inch wheels, a Sun Tour DL deranleur, SR crank, and Dia Compe brakes." A writer might need to communicate that objective information to a prospective buyer or an employee in a cycle repair shop. On the other hand, the writer may wish to communicate the bicycle's subjective feel — how easily it pedals or how it flows like water down the street. In most situations, however, good writers describe their subject both objectively and subjectively. They use some objectivity for accuracy and specific detail and some subjectivity to suggest the value or relevance of the subject in a human environment.

The key to effective observing is to show your reader the person, place, event, or object through specific detail. Good description allows the reader to draw general conclusions based on specific detail. Rather than just telling a reader, "This bicycle has good technical components," the writer should show or describe how it feels as she rides it. If your reader is going to learn from your observations, you need to give the exact details that you learned from, not just your conclusions or generalizations. Even in writing, experience is the best teacher, so use specific details to communicate the feel, the data, the sights and sounds and smells. Whether you are a tourist describing the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, a salesperson analyzing consumer preferences for your boss, a physicist presenting data on a new supercon¬ducting material to other physicists, or a social worker putting together the details of a child abuse case, your first task is to recreate the experience, to show your readers, to make them see.

Explaining "Why": cause and effect writing

"Why?" may be the question most commonly asked by human beings. We are fascinated by the reasons for everything we experience in life. We ask questions about natural phenomena: Why is the sky blue? Why does a teakettle whistle? Why do some materials act as superconductors? We also find human attitudes and behavior intriguing: Why is chocolate so popular? Why do some people hit small leather balls with big sticks and then run around a field stomping on little white pillows? Why are America's farms economically depressed? Why did the United States go to war in Vietnam?

Explaining why something occurs can be the most fascinating — and difficult — kind of expository writing. Answering the question "why" usually requires analyzing cause-and-effect relationships, but the causes maybe too complex or intangible to identify precisely. We are on comparatively secure ground when we ask why about physical phenomena than can be weighed, measured, and replicated under laboratory conditions. Under those conditions, we can determine cause and effect with precision. Fire, for example, has three necessary and sufficient causes: combustible material, oxygen, and ignition temperature. Without each of these causes, fire will not occur (each cause is "necessary"); these three causes are, taken together, enough to cause fire (all three are "sufficient"). The cause-and-effect relationship, in this case, can be illustrated by an equation:

• cause 1: combustible substance
• cause 2: oxygen
• cause 3: ignition temperature
• effect: fire

Analyzing both necessary and sufficient causes is essential to explaining an effect. You may say, for example, that wind shear (an abrupt downdraft in a storm) "caused" an airplane crash. In fact, wind shear may have helped cause the crash (been necessary), but by itself wind shear was not the total (sufficient) cause of the crash: An airplane with enough power may be able to overcome wind shear forces in certain circumstances. An explanation of the crash is not complete until you analyze the full range of necessary and sufficient causes, which may include wind shear, lack of power, mechanical failure, and even pilot error.

Sometimes, explanations for physical phenomena are beyond our analytical powers. Astrophysicists, for example, have good theoretical reasons for believing that black holes cause gigantic gravitational whirlpools in outer space, but they have difficulty explaining why black holes exist — or whether they exist at all.

In the realm of human cause and effect, determining causes and effects can be as tricky as explaining why black holes exist. Why do some children learn math easily, while others fail? What effect does failing at math have on a child? What are necessary and sufficient causes for divorce? What are the effects of divorce on parents and children? You may not be able to explain all the causes or effects of something, but you should not be satisfied until you have considered a wide range of possible causes and effects. Even then, you need to qualify or modify your statements, using such words as might," "Usually," "often," "seldom," "many," or "most," and then giving as much support and evidence as you can.

Academic essays do's & dont's

The key to success lies in focusing in each academic essay on a few illustrative incidents as opposed to giving a superficial overview. Remember that detail, specificity, and concrete examples will make your academic essay distinctive and interesting. Generalities and platitudes that could apply to every other business school applicant will bore. If you use the latter, you will just blend into the crowd.

Following Ten Do's and Don'ts for your academic essay will help you write compelling, focused academic essays that will transform you from a collection of numbers and classes into an interesting human being.

The do's of academic essays

• Unite your essay and give it direction with a theme or thesis. The thesis is the main point you want to communicate. Make sure in answers the question.
• Before you begin writing, choose what you want to discuss and the order in which you want to discuss it.
• Use concrete examples from your life experience to support your thesis and distinguish yourself from other applicants.
• Write about what interests you, excites you. That's what the admissions staff wants to read.
• Start your essay with an attention-grabbing lead: an anecdote, quote, surprising statement, question, or engaging description of a scene.
• End your essay with a conclusion that refers back to the lead and restates your thesis.
• Revise your essay at least three times.
• In addition to your editing, ask someone else to critique your personal statement for you.
• Proofread your essays by reading them out loud or reading it into a tape recorder and playing back the tape.
• Write clearly, succinctly.

The don'ts of academic essays

• Don't include information that doesn't support your thesis.
• Don't start your academic essay with "I was born in...," or "My parents came from..."
• Don't write an autobiography, itinerary, or resume in prose.
• Don't try to be a clown (but gentle humor is OK).
• Don't be afraid to start over if the essay just isn't working or doesn't answer the essay question.
• Don't try to impress your reader with your vocabulary.
• Don't rely exclusively on your computer to check your spelling.
• Don't provide a collection of generic statements and platitudes.
• Don't give mealy-mouthed, weak excuses for your GPA or test scores.
• Don't make things up.

Writing about memories: effective techniques

Writing vividly about memories includes all the skills of careful observing, but it adds additional techniques that are described below. Not all writing about memories uses all five techniques, but often one or two of them will transform a lifeless or boring account into an effective narrative.

1. Using detailed observation of people, places, and events. Writing vividly about memories requires many of the skills of careful observation. Give actual dialogue where appropriate.
2. Creating specific scenes set in time and space. Show your reader the actual events, don't just tell about events. Narrate specific incidents as they actually happened. Avoid monotonously summarizing events or presenting just the conclusions (for instance, "those experiences really changed my life").
3. Noting changes, contrasts, or conflicts. Changes in people or places, contrasts between two different memories or between memories of expectations and the reality, or conflicts between people or ideas will often lead to the meaning or importance of a remembered person, place, or event.
4. Making connections between past events, people, or places and the present. The main idea of a narrative often grows out of the changes and conflicts or arises from the connections you make between past and present.
5. Discovering and focusing on a main idea. A remembering essay is not a random narrative of the writer's favorite memories. A narrative should have a clear main point, focus on a main idea, or make a discovery. The essay should clearly show why the memories are important.

Using details, creating scenes, noting conflicts, making connections between past and present, and focusing on a main idea are all important techniques, but you should also keep several other points in mind. Normally, you should write in the first person, using "I" or "we" throughout the narrative. Usually, you will write in past tense, but sometimes you may wish to lend immediacy to the events by retelling them in the present tense, as though they are happening now. Finally, you may stick with a straightforward chronological order, or you may begin near the end and use a flashback to tell the beginning of the story.

The key to effective remembering, though, is to get beyond generalities and conclusions about your experiences ("I had a lot of fun — those days really changed my life") to specific incidents set in time and place which show how and why those days changed your life. The specific incidents should show your main point or dominant idea.

Don't use passive voice

Passive voice, as defined by the Lexico’s Dictionary, is “the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb.” As opposed to active voice, passive voice is considered bad writing tone. If you are unsure how to tell the difference between the passive voice and the active voice, please go to a wonderful article Active Verbs vs. Passive Verbs by Dennis Jerz of Seton Hill University. In this post, I am telling about why you should avoid passive voice, and when you can use it.

As described by Stephen King in his On writing, passive verbs in writing are for cowards. When the writer intentionally avoids the active doer, he (or she) is literally affraid of the responsibility that this active doer would take. Passive voice is not wrong, and, if used wisely, can emphasize important points or perform other specific tasks. In most cases, however, you must not use passive voice in your writing, regardless of whether you are writing a technical report or a narrative.

Negative features of passive voice

Passive voice accepts ignoring or providing no information about the doer of the action. Consider an example: the car was driven by a girl. In this sentence, the car is the subject, “was driven” is the predicate (with a linking verb to be), and the girl -- the actual doer of the action (driving) -- is the object. And the object, is the secondary part of sentence, which can be kindly removed without harming the main idea of the sentence. Thus, with passive voice, we almost ignore the doer (the person or thing taking action).

Another feature of passive voice sentences is that they are weak, vague, and ineffective. Consider revising the example above to the girl was driving the car. This statement is firm, strict, and strong. The writer takes responsibility and gives the girl the authority to drive, -- not the car to be driven. Therefore, take responsibility, write firmly, and use active voice.

When passive voice is acceptable

There are cases, when you should use passive voice. The most common case is to wilfully remove the doer for a definite reason. For example, with an intention to conceal the identity of the doer, the IT specialist may respond to the police, “the files had been deleted.” In this case, the speaker wilfully ignores the doer of the action, because he wants the doer to stay in the shadow. Therefore, use passive voice only when there is a valid reason to remove the doer from the statement.