How to Write an Incredible Classification Essay: Useful Tips and Hints

Writing a classification essay helps you put your thoughts into perspective by breaking down large portions of information into several smaller components. This way, you organize your ideas by splitting them into manageable categories. Classification method makes your essay structured and easier for your readers to follow. Classification can be also used as a method of arranging ideas, objects, articles, actions, or people with shared features into groups. It is one of the most commonly used types of essays at schools, colleges and universities.

Topics and examples

For example, you can classify academic papers into categories, such as argumentative, admission, narrative, application, and classification essays, among others. You can understand the nature of this type of academic paper if you look at the classification essay topics:

• Classify different types of plants based on the areas where they grow.
• What are different types of bankruptcy?
• Different types of media used in pet food advertising.

The choice of the topic is paramount as it determines your approach to the essay, and it will surely impact your final score: the topic should be appealing to you and interesting for you to research.

One Guiding Principle

You need to establish a principle that will guide your essay. Typically, classification essays are organized by one principle that has to be maintained throughout the paper. Here are some possible options – although the list can be extended further:

• Structure: define how the object organized, which parts make one unit. (Occupational structure: health, education, sales, trades, manufacture and utilities).   
• Function: explain how something works or what purpose some objects intend to serve. (Ventilation system: ventilation, heating, cooling, etc).  
• Analysis: compare and contrast the term to other similar terms within its class. (Football, baseball, basketball, volleyball – all are sports games played with a ball, but the games are different). 

Checklist to score A+

• You need to make it clear for your readers which terms you are going to define. You need to maintain a certain structure of the paper, and you should revise your essay in pursuit to answer the question “what is a classification essay?” Does it define the term and have a logical coherence to it throughout the paper?
• Does the structure of your essay have distinct three parts: introduction, main body and conclusion?
• Does the introduction present your topic in a form of one concise sentence, thesis statement?  Does your introduction communicate the purpose of your essay (examine, evaluate, define, persuade, inform, classify, organize)?  Does your introduction present a “hook”, a sentence that sounds intriguing and makes your audience want to proceed with reading your paper?
• Is each of the paragraphs of your main body related to the topic and the idea defined in your thesis statement?
• Do you provide sufficient facts, evidence, arguments, quotes and examples to make your claim well grounded?
• Do you arrive at the conclusion that reexamines your thesis and gives a concise summary of your classification essay?

Last but not least, make sure you cite your sources properly, both throughout the paper and in the reference list. This way, you will address plagiarism concerns. Use credible sources that give accurate, true and up-to-date information. For example, peer-reviewed articles and scholarly papers are considered valid sources, in contrast to blogs and out-of-date materials. Need more help? Learn from our writers how to write a classification essay: let us do the job for you!

Classification Essay Example

These articles can also be useful:

Definition EssayCompare and Contrast EssayArgumentative Essay