READING ACTIVELY AND THINKING CRITICALLY

Reading and thinking critically about a classification or division essay requires you to read the selection carefully, considering how the categories or parts support the main point and connecting the ideas to your own experience. But you must also examine and challenge the author’s attitude as it is shown in the selection. (For more on reading actively, see Chapter 3; for more on thinking critically, see Chapter 4.)

WHAT TO LOOK FOR, HIGHLIGHT, AND ANNOTATE

Classification and division essays are usually tightly organized and relatively easy to follow. Use the following suggestions to read actively classification or division essays or any writing that uses classification or division. (For more on previewing, see Chapter 3.)

  1. Preview. Preview the essay to get an overview of its content and organization.
  2. Understand the principle of classification or division and the category or parts used. Read the essay through, highlighting the thesis and the name or title of each category or part. In the margin or in your journal, note the principle of classification.
  3. Identify how the writer explains each part or category. Highlight or underline the key details of each category. Circle or asterisk any important definitions or vivid examples. In the margins or in your journal, note how the supporting evidence helps explain the categories or parts and consider how they support the essay’s thesis.
  4. Think about the meaning. Reread the essay once again, this time concentrating on its meaning by answering the following questions.
    • What is the writer’s purpose in writing this essay? For what audience it is intended? How did the writer’s purpose and audience influence the principle of classification or division he or she chose?
    • How well does the writer explain the categories or parts? Identify any sections where you find a category or part confusing or where you think more supporting detail is needed.
  5. Consider your reactions. Consider how the essay relates to your own experience. For example, do the types of bosses Newman identifies in “My Secret Life on the McJob” resonate with your own experience in the workplace? To gain a different perspective on the reading, think of other ways of classifying or dividing the topic. For example, consider an essay that classifies types of exercise programs at health clubs according to the benefits they offer. Such exercise programs could also be classified according to their cost, degree of strenuousness, type of exercise, and so forth.

ANALYZING CLASSIFICATION AND DIVISION

When reading classification or division, particularly if its purpose is to persuade, focus on the essay’s comprehensiveness and level of detail by asking the following questions.

Does the classification or division cover all significant categories or parts? To be fair, honest, and complete, an essay should discuss all the significant categories or parts into which the subject can be classified or divided. It would be misleading, for example, to classify unemployed workers into only two groups:

  1. Those who have been laid off or downsized
  2. Those who lack skills for employment

Many people are unemployed for other reasons.

When reading “My Secret Life on the McJob” you might ask whether there are other types of managers whom Newman did not observe, recognize, or write about.

Does the writer provide sufficient detail about each category? An objective and fair classification or division requires each category to be treated with the same level of detail. Writers who provide many details for some categories and just a few details for other categories may be biased. For example, suppose a writer classifies how high school students spend their time. She goes into great detail about leisure activities but offers little detail about part-time jobs or volunteer work. The writer may be trying to create the impression that most students care only about having fun and make few meaningful contributions to society — an idea that many people would disagree with.

Is the principle of classification or division appropriate given the writer’s purpose? In “My Secret Life on the McJob” Jerry Newman classifies managers according to management style, but another principle of classification, such as productivity or experience, might also be possible. Given Newman’s purpose — to recommend that readers become performance managers — his decision to use management style was appropriate. However, if his purpose had been to examine why some McDonald’s franchises are more profitable than others, then classification of managers by their financial results might have been a more appropriate choice.