Division or Classification
Look at the following list of movies. Divide all of these movies
into categories of your own choosing. You may not include a
movie in more than one category. You need at least two
movies per category and no more than four each.
Alien
Beowulf
Boyz in the Hood
Braveheart
The Dark Knight
Dracula
The Fellowship of the Ring
A Few Good Men
Finding Nemo
Gettysburg
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
The Godfather
Gone With the Wind
Goodfellas
Iron Man
Nightmare on Elm Street
Remember the Titans
The Return of the King
Rocky I
Rocky II
Saving Private Ryan
Scream
Shrek
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Sleepless in Seattle
Star Wars: A New Hope
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Shindler’s List
The Two Towers
When Harry Met Sally
Division or Classification
They Mean the Same Thing!
Purposes of Division / Classification
The sorting of a subject into various groups or classes based on their similarities and/or
differences. This makes use of analysis--the breaking of a subject into parts to better
understand it.
When there is no purpose to the method of classification, it becomes a pointless and hollow
exercise.
For example:

Organizing your CDs by musical genre and then by alphabetical order.
Purpose: Easy access to specific musicians
X
Organizing your CDs by price paid and then by predominant color on CD cover.
Purpose: Who knows???
Division or Classification
Kinds of Classification
•
Binary Classification
–
Two-part classification in which you sort things out into 1. Those WITH a certain
characteristic and 2. those WITHOUT that characteristic.
I.e. A pro and con list
•
Complex Classification
–
Multipart classification in which you break the subject into more than two different categories
I.e. Subject:
Categories:
Food
1. Meat 2. Dairy 3. Breads 4. Fruits & Vegetables
GOOD
*** WARNING: Make sure that categories don’t overlap!
I.e. Subject:
Categories:
Food
1. Meat 2. Hot Dogs 3. Milk 4. Cheese
BAD
Division or Classification
Subcategories
Often, you will find that to fully discuss the categories of a subject, you will need to break
the categories into subcategories. It is the same process as before, but with a more
narrowed focus.
I.e.
Subject:
Food
Categories:
1. Meat and 2 Dairy
Subcategories:
1A. Beef, 1B. Fish, 1C. Poultry
2A. Cheese, 2B. Milk
***WARNING: Make sure you include all possible categories. Omitting an important category can
weaken the effect of your essay.
I.e.
Subject:
Political Parties
Categories:
1. Republican and 2. Democrat
FAULT:
What about Independents? What about the Green Party?
Division or Classification
Checklist for Revising and Editing a Division and Classification:

Purpose: Have you classified for a reason?

Principle of Classification: Will readers see the rule or principle you used for sorting
individuals into groups? Is this apparent in your thesis?

Consistency: Does each representative of your subject fall into one category only so that
that categories don’t overlap?

Completeness: Have you mentioned all of the essential categories suggestion by your
principle of classification?

Paragraph Development: Have you provided enough examples and other details so that
readers can easily distinguish each category from the others?
Division or Classification
Animation
•Finding Nemo
•Shrek
•Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Action
•G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
•Iron Man
•The Dark Knight
Romance
•Gone With the Wind
•When Harry Met Sally
•Sleepless in Seattle
Science Fiction
•Star Wars: A New Hope
•Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
•Alien
Drama
•Shindler’s List
•Gettysburg
•Braveheart
Gangster / Mob
•The Godfather
•Goodfellas
•Boyz in the Hood
Fantasy Adventure
•The Fellowship of the Ring
•The Two Towers
•The Return of the King
•Beowulf
Military
•Saving Private Ryan
•A Few Good Men
•Horror
•Dracula
•Scream
•Nightmare on Elm Street
Sports
•Remember the Titans
•Rocky I
•Rocky II
Division or Classification
Now It’s Your Turn!
Write a 5-paragraph essay of classification focusing on your favorite
types of movies. You should discuss at least three genres of film and
include 2-3 examples of each type of movie.
Remember to ask yourself:
1. What is the SUBJECT of the essay?
2. What are the CATEGORIES presented?
3. What INFORMATION is provided for each category?