College Composition / Unit 15 CMP 0358 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Classification and Division
The idea
Division breaks one subject into its parts; classification groups many items into categories by shared traits.
In practice
Use the pair in order. First, decide whether you are starting with one subject to break apart, which is division, or many items to sort, which is classification. Second, choose one basis for sorting, such as purpose, size or type. Third, make the categories distinct, so no item fits two. Fourth, explain each category or part with examples. In the anchor's models, a textbook's extra material is divided into photographs, quotations and tables, and trained young dogs are classified into those ready for homes, those repeating the course, and those advancing.
Where people slip
Switching the basis of classification partway through, sorting dogs first by readiness and then by color, produces overlapping categories that confuse readers.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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