OVERVIEW: For this essay you will use both the Personal Description and Classification methods of development. You will use Personal Description to introduce a group that is often stereotyped, and then you will use Classification to break down those stereotypes. We fall very easily into hasty generalizations and lazy thinking, where we look at a group, topic, or a situation and try to sum it up with a quick clich?. This makes us untrustworthy as writers, and it alerts others to our tendencies towards lazy, immature thinking. Classification, in other words, creating categories within an overarching topic, can force us to see reality more clearly or to better understand our topic. TOPICS TO CONSIDER: Let''s say, for the sake of example, that our topic is Republicans. (Realize that almost any group could be used as an example here.) If you don''t understand the full picture, is easy to assume that all Republicans are blue-sport-coat-wearing, church-going, abortion-clinic-protesting conservatives who send their children to private schools and colleges for the sake of status and who use every tax loophole to cheat the system. These are common perceptions. However, upon closer inspection we see that there are a variety of types of Republicans: small business or family farm owners driven by a need for tax relief, ones that support Democrat-developed social policies but cannot bring themselves to support legalized abortion, ones that hate corporations that are too powerful but also hate government that is too powerful. Your job for this essay will be to choose a topic and create 3-4 categories within that topic, showing that you have thought critically about this topic and given it a fair assessment rather than a stereotyped or uninformed response. As you have probably already guessed, classification is a very effective critical thinking and writing tool when it comes to different groups of people. (i.e. Christians, Democrats, dirt bike riders, Midwesterners, etc.) These topics can be very highly-charged, and classification can help prevent stereotypes. However, keep in mind that when not done carefully, classification within these types of groups can also create more stereotypes. If you choose to classify a group of people for your essay, realize that this danger exists. You aren''t required choose a group of people as your topic. See your text for other suggestions. Notice the technique your text lays out for discovering a topic. Think about areas where you consider yourself an expert of sorts, where you often finding yourself telling other people about distinctions within a topic. For example, I often find myself discussing different types of English instructors with my students. (See the homepage for this class to see the beginnings of this type of a discussion.) Or if you''re a car enthusiast, you may want to create categories that help your reader understand different classes of sports cars. Here are some more possible topics: 1. Types of college teachers (or college pressures or college courses) 2. Types of pet owners (or pets) 3. Types of Drivers 4. Types of Churchgoers 5. Types of Internet users 6. Types of friends, bosses, or relatives 7. Types of talk show hosts or talk shows 8. Types of sports announcers (or fans) 9. Types of herbal remedies or alternative medicines 10. Types of laundromat users 11. People waiting in line 12. Cell phone users 13. Types of break-ups Avoid these simplistic topics!!! 1. Types of restaurants 2. Types of food 3. Types of exercise KEYS FOR SUCCESS: Your text points out some keys to take into consideration as you write. Whenever you use classification you must follow the principles of CONSISTENCY and EXCLUSIVITY as they are laid out in your text. GRADING CRITERIA: You will be graded based on the following checklist (slightly modified from the one in your text). 4 points possible per category. * The IDEAS in the classification criteria are logical and clear. The criteria result in subgroups that are consistent, exclusive, and complete. * The ORGANIZATION of the essay helps the reader understand the components, the subgroups, and the subject as a whole. Paragraphs form cohesive units of thought. * The WORDS are precise, descriptive, and appropriate for the subject. Terms used in classifications are employed in the same way throughout the essay. * The SENTENCES are complete, varied, and easy to read. Appropriate transitions link sentences and paragraphs. * The FINISHED COPY follows documentation and formatting rules.