ESL 2520
Essay 1
Classification Essay
The Classification Essay forces you to group objects based
on a Principal of Organization. This
means you choose a method of organization that groups the items based on a
similar theme or similarity. For
instance, chocolate can be grouped according to ingredients and, therefore,
flavor (Ex. White chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate), according to
country of origin (Ex. Swiss chocolate, German chocolate, American chocolate),
or the forms it takes (Ex. Molded chocolate, melted/fondue chocolate, powdered
chocolate). However, when writing a
classification essay, the writer should not mix items from logical groups
together. For instance, I wouldn’t write
a classification essay that discusses white chocolate, powdered chocolate, and
German chocolate. These items would seem
unrelated to the reader of a classification essay.
A classification essay is different from a
comparison/contrast essay in that you are DEFINING
the categories for the reader as opposed to making your opinion about
comparisons/differences known. Therefore,
you are sticking to writing about the basic information about a subject. Sometimes, in the conclusion, as a final
thought, the writer states his/her opinion about which category is most important
or best. However, this opinion is saved
for the end, not for the body of the essay.
For this first essay, you will choose a topic for
classification, determine a Principal of Organization for that topic, and write
a five-paragraph essay (with an introduction, a three-paragraph body, and a
conclusion) that discusses the categories within that classification.
STEP ONE:
Choose a topic. You
may choose from the list below, or you may choose your own topic. However, if you choose your own, you MUST TELL ME WHAT YOUR TOPIC IS BEFORE YOU BEGIN WRITING:
- Types
of alternative fuel vehicles
- Types
of addictions (shopping, internet, drugs/alcohol)
- Types
of medical specialties (radiology, physical therapy, etc.)
- Types
of adoption (international, domestic, from foster care)
- Types
of job-hunting methods – Ways to look for a job (newspaper classified ads,
job websites, career counselors/job boards at the college)
- Ways
to save money (high-interest bank accounts, invest each month in
stocks/funds, building a budget)
- Three
inventions that have changed life for people globally
- Types
of winter/summer sports
- Ways
to travel on vacation (train, plane, car)
- Types
of diets (South
Beach, Atkins,
Weight Watchers)
- Types
of alternative energy (geothermal, solar, air, water)
- Ways
of using networking websites (like MySpace or Facebook) (self-promotion, connecting with friends, blogging)
- Types
of political parties in the U.S. or in your native country
- Worldwide
attitudes toward the U.S.
(anger, interest, apathy, annoyance)
- Genres
in movies/books (science fiction, fantasy, romance, adventure, comedy)
- Areas
of study in anthropology/engineering/law/etc.
- Types
of basic resource books (dictionaries, thesaurus, encyclopedia)
- Types
of fabric (silk, rayon, polyester, cotton)
- Methods
of recording music (to audio cassette, to CD-ROM, to MP3 player)
- Your
Choice – But you must tell me before you begin writing
STEP TWO:
Once you have chosen your topic, you need to divide that
topic into three categories or types of classification. In other words, create the pieces for your Principal of Organization.
For my sample essay, I’m choosing types/flavors of
chocolate. 
STEP THREE:
Do any research you need to do for the topic. If you use any articles to help you, you
should reference those articles on a “References” page using MLA format – See
attached handout.
I used many articles from the internet to help me. They are listed below in MLA format. At the end of my essay, I will list them in
alphabetical order according to title on a REFERENCES page. For this paper, I don’t reference these
sources within my essay using citations.
We will learn how to do that during later papers.
“Types of Chocolate.”
Wikipedia. Updated
January 7, 2008. Accessed January 19, 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_chocolate.
“White Chocolate.” Wikipedia. Updated January 18, 2008. Accessed January 19, 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_chocolate
“History of Milk Chocolate.”
What’s Cooking in America. Accessed January 19, 2008. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/MilkChocolate.htm
“It’s True – Dark
Chocolate is Healthy Chocolate!” What’s Cooking in America. Accessed January 19, 2008. http://whatscookingamerica.net/chocolate.htm
“Types of Chocolate.”
CacaoWeb. Updated
September 15, 2007. Accessed January 19, 2008.
http://www.cacaoweb.net/chocolate.html
STEP FOUR:
After you collect any extra information you need, you can
put the basic ideas for your essay into a tree diagram. During this class, we will learn several
methods of prewriting, or brainstorming, ideas.
This is one method of pre-writing that helps you visualize what your final
essay will look like. A tree diagram for
my essay on chocolate is presented below.
Notice that I try to make the information in each category balanced by
discussing the ingredients, the popularity, and some history or interesting
facts for each. This gives the entire
essay logical cohesion and unity.
STEP FOUR:
Once you have put together all of your ideas into a tree
diagram like the one above, you are ready to write a strong, solid thesis statement. Remember, a thesis statement is the “promise”
you make to your readers about what they are going to see in the essay. Also remember the five parts of a thesis:
- General
Topic
- Specific
Topic
- Purpose
- Point
of view or opinion
- The
Parts or what each paragraph will be about
Here is a sample thesis statement that would go along with
my tree diagram about chocolate.
Sample Thesis:
Today, there are many types of chocolate made throughout the
world; however, the most well-known types are white chocolate, milk chocolate,
and dark chocolate.
Can you label the five parts of my thesis?
STEP FIVE:
Once you are done brainstorming your ideas and writing your
thesis, you are ready to begin writing your essay. Be sure each body paragraph has a strong
topic sentence about one of the job types you put into your tree diagram, and
don’t forget to include the details you listed as support for the topic
sentence. A sample essay on my job
choices is below. Please note that it is
in the format in which I prefer to see your essays. Please put the essay in this format:
- Typed,
if possible
- Double-spaced
- In the
upper left-hand corner, type your first and last name, the class, the
essay assignment, the draft number, and the date you turn in the draft
- Begin
your essay about 3 inches down the page
- Start
the essay with a title – Even if it is just the name of the essay type.
- After
the first page, include your last name and page number at the top of each
page.
Heather Meloche
ESL 2520
Essay 1:
Classification Essay
Draft 1
January 24, 2008
Typical Types of
Chocolate
Image of Cortes and the
Aztecs, from http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_flat.html
When
Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes arrived in South America and sat among the Aztec Indians in 1519,
they were awed by his appearance. They
thought he was one of their gods who had come back to life as a human. To honor him, they presented him with a cup
of dark liquid made from cacao seeds.
The Aztecs believed that these seeds came from Paradise,
their heaven, and that whoever consumed them would gain wisdom and power. They called the unique drink “chocolatl,” and Cortes fell in
love with it. He proudly took it back to
Spain,
where the beans became known as cocoa beans, and the Spanish mixed the drink
with sugar and vanilla to make what we now know as dark chocolate. Soon chocolate houses sprang up all over the
capitals of Europe, and chocolate was ragingly
fashionable. Today, there are many types
of chocolate made throughout the world; however, the most popular types are white
chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate.
The
least consumed type of chocolate is white chocolate. This type of chocolate appears white or cream
and has the same consistency as other types of chocolate. However, while it contains cocoa butter, the
fat component of chocolate, it does not contain the two other ingredients in
darker chocolate – chocolate liquor, which is the ground or melted end of the
cocoa bean, and cocoa powder, which is the nonfat part of the bean that has
been ground into powder. As a result of
what of it lacks in ingredients, many countries as well as researchers at Harvard University
in the U.S.
don’t even consider it chocolate.
Despite this, the U.S.
allowed the M&M Candy company to market the
concoction as “white chocolate” after World War I, and it became popularly
distributed throughout the U.S.
in 1984 when Nestle introduced its Alpine White Chocolate bar with white
chocolate and chopped almonds. Today,
however, white chocolate is only preferred by 10% of the world’s
chocolate-eating population.
A
second type of chocolate is milk chocolate.
This type contains 25% of cocoa solids and a concentration of 10% of
chocolate liquor. It is then mixed with
milk powder or condensed milk, cocoa butter, and sugar. It is a light brown in color and very sweet
to the taste. Milk chocolate first appeared
in 1887 when Daniel Peter mixed chocolate with milk. The idea came to him after talking to his
neighbor, Henry Nestle, who had just developed a way to make baby food with a “milky flour.”
After years of Peter perfecting his formula for milk chocolate, Nestle
began selling his friend’s chocolate, making it a favorite of 22% of the
chocolate eaters worldwide.
A
third type of chocolate is dark chocolate.
This is often called “plain chocolate” because the ingredients of the
cocoa bean are less diluted by other ingredients in dark chocolate than in
other types of chocolate. It contains at
least 35% cocoa solids and 15% chocolate liquor and varies in sweetness
depending on how much sugar is added.
Many doctors and researchers suggest eating two ounces of dark chocolate
with a minimum of 70% chocolate solids is very good for fighting heart disease,
high blood pressure and many other hazards.
This is because of the large amount of cancer-fighting antioxidants
found in chocolate solids. In addition,
chocolate has a very positive effect on the brain. It stimulates the secretion of endorphins,
hormones that increase pleasure and happiness.
Because of the good it does on the body and because of chocolate’s
sweet, unique taste, it is the most craved food in the U.S. Fifty percent of all food cravings are for
chocolate, compared to 16% for “something sweet,” 12% for salty foods, 11% for
baked goods, and 4% for fruit. Women,
especially, crave chocolate, with 40% of women saying they “need” it during their
day and only 15% of men saying the same.
In conclusion, chocolate is one of the
world’s most-loved foods. People have
reported that it often gives them the same sensation as falling in love, which
is a great excuse to gorge on chocolate, whether it is white chocolate, milk
chocolate, or dark chocolate. It is also
the reason why chocolate is such a widely given gift during Valentine’s Day,
the day of love, in the U.S. With so many reasons to love chocolate and
the cocoa bean it comes from, it’s no wonder that the Aztecs were convinced it
came straight from Paradise, that Cortes felt
compelled to share it with the royalty of Spain, and that the world today is
filled with “chocoholics” who can’t get enough of the sweet, creamy concoction.
REFERENCES
“History of Milk Chocolate.”
What’s Cooking in America. Accessed January 19, 2008. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/MilkChocolate.htm
“It’s True – Dark
Chocolate is Healthy Chocolate!” What’s Cooking in America. Accessed January 19, 2008. http://whatscookingamerica.net/chocolate.htm
“Types of Chocolate.”
CacaoWeb. Updated
September 15, 2007. Accessed January 19, 2008.
http://www.cacaoweb.net/chocolate.html
“Types of Chocolate.”
Wikipedia. Updated
January 7, 2008. Accessed January 19, 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_chocolate.
“White Chocolate.” Wikipedia. Updated January 18, 2008. Accessed January 19, 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_chocolate
