Classification Essay Assignment: Knowing Something by Its Qualities NOTE: I strongly suggest you PRINT OUT these instructions because you may not remember all the details.  Unlike your previous essay, this one has no body paragraph due; only the intro paragraph is due as a partial draft.  The intro paragraph is due to me as a Rich Text file by the date showing in the Assignments Calendar and in the Essay Two Partial Draft assignment in Daily Grades in Blackboard.   Please name your file D2 plus your initials.  The final draft is due by a date to be announced when I have graded the intros (see the Assignments Calendar).   Submit in the usual RTF format.  The Basic Assignment   Your essay should be a minimum of 1000 words.  As before with the previous essay, Essay Two will be graded on these criteria: Focus on the assignment; Organization according to the three-part format, with emphasis on use of a clear thesis sentence, clearly previewed supports, and equally clear topic sentences which use transition wording; Development in terms of clear general explanation and use of specific examples; And last, it will be graded for effective proofing. This assignment will ask you to look both outside and inside yourself. I want you to think of some role which you know well, and ask yourself what qualities or characteristics make a person good at that role.  Everyone is good at something.  Think of something you are good at:  an athlete in a particular sport, an employee at your current or some former job, someone who knows some hobby inside and out, etc.  Maybe you are the sort of person who is a good listener.  Maybe you are handy with carpentry, or auto mechanics.  Maybe you know more about a certain type of music than anyone in your acquaintance.  In fact, you don’t need to be the world’s best expert at a role to write about it; you just need to know it well enough to be aware of the qualities that make someone good at that—whatever it is.  Whatever you choose, it must be something that you yourself know well enough so that you can write about it knowledgeably. You will write this essay as a classification essay.  In such an essay, the thesis supports are not reasons, but  categories.  In this case, each quality of the role you write about becomes a sort of category.  I will explain this mode in class, but you can also read about it in my website.  First, read this entire set of instructions.  After you know the basics of this assignment, then read about the mode by clicking on the Three Part Format link in the menu bar above or below.  Then find the Modes menu bar, and click on Classification.  You will find an explanation of this mode, a general outline for any classification essay, and a sample essay, though it is not on the topic of this assignment. One thing you will read about is the principle of classification, which is the means by which you choose how to break the overall topic into categories.  Almost always, there is more than one way to break something into its parts, so there can be more than one principle of classification.  In this assignment, your principle of classification is that you are going to explore a particular role according to the three most important qualities of anyone who is good at that role.  In this assignment, your sentence stating your principle of classification is also your thesis sentence.  So you will begin your intro paragraph, as usual, with some background information, describing the role you are choosing to write about.  If it is a common one, then one or two sentences will do to introduce it; if the role you choose is more obscure, then perhaps more explanation of it will be needed.  After the background info, you will write your thesis sentence, which will simply state that you are going to explore or define this role by discussing its three most important qualities.  Following that thesis sentence, you will write your preview of supports, preferably in the form of one separate sentence for each quality.  So in this essay, your supports are the three qualities most important to being successful in the role you have chosen to write about.  You will then write one body paragraph for each quality.  You will name it in the TS, describe the quality in the GE, telling how it works and why it is important, and in the SE, you will tell a story about either yourself or someone else, a story that actually shows the quality.  The paragraph will finish with a CS that emphasizes how the story you told shows the importance of that particular quality. IMPORTANT:  This is not a "how-to" essay; it is not a set of instructions.  You are describing how something is done; that is different from explaining how to do it.  Your reader is interested, but probably will not try to actually carry out the activity or skill you are describing.  In practical terms, this significantly affects how you word your sentences.  So note: The wrong wording:  "The first thing you need to do is to ..." The right wording:  "The first quality a person needs to be very good at this is..." ALSO:  To see an outline of the complete essay, go to Course Documents in Blackboard and see Classification by Qualities Outline.

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