Before you step into the zone of identifying classification essay examples, you need to be able to identify a classification essay first. As the very name suggests, a classification essay is one wherein the material that you have is sorted out or organised into groups or sub-divisions. Therefore when you go through an essay that is not describing something, but is actually categorizing the data on hand, you know that you have a classification essay in front of you. It is quite different from a Chicago style essay, wherein you are presenting your case on a particular issue in a specific format.

Introduction:

Like all other essays, classification essay examples also have an introductory paragraph. Of course, if the essay or the example is going to be a rather lengthy one, it is necessary to have an introduction that fully explains the purpose of the essay. This is also referred to as the ‘thesis statement’, which is actually the focal point of the essay. You are trying to explain to the reader the purpose of the classification of the data you have and the result that you expect from this classification.

Classification and body of the essay:

In all classification essay examples, this part of the essay contains the categorization of data. For instance, let us imagine that the topic for discussion is ‘Favorite sports of tourists who visit a seaside resort’. One cannot take for granted that all tourists would like to go in for water sports such as scuba diving, snorkelling or surfing. It is also not right to conclude that a majority of tourists would like to play beach-ball or beach-racing. It is therefore necessary to first classify the various sports that are available to tourists in a seaside resort. To be a little more specific, it would be good if the resort and its location is specified. For instance, if it is a place that is very close to a coral reef, then it is obvious that this is low diving would be favored by those who visit the area and are interested in the reefs.

Problems faced while categorizing:

An inherent problem that writers of classification essay examples face is the categorization of data. It is very easy to say that there should be clear-cut categorization; very often this seems to be quite difficult. This is because it is quite possible to have one category overlapping another. In this situation, it would be a good idea to provide a pictorial representation of the categorization that you have done. A pie-chart for example, is one of the best tools to demonstrate how and where this kind of overlapping occurs.

Another problem would be when the principle that you use while categorizing is not very clear. If you are going to talk about tourists and the sports that they prefer, do not at any point bring in the aspect of sports favored by locals who live in the seaside resort. This would be a conflicting set of data which would not give a clear indication of what you are trying to say.

Conclusion:

Once your classification essay examples have been clearly categorized, you need to tie up the loose ends in your conclusion. Though you have analysed the data you have, a classification essay is certainly different from an analysis essay or any other term paper, for that matter.

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