Classification Essay

1. Classification Essay Trouble Spots—Take Notes!

2. Avoid short, choppy sentences • These can make your essay sound dull and mechanical • Combine a series of shorter sentences and vary sentence patterns and lengths • Try these: • Working dogs are another one of the American Kennel Club’s breed categories. These include German shepherds and sheep-herding dogs. • One standard type of writing instrument is the fountain pen. It is sometimes messy and inconvenient to use. It often leaks.

3. Comma Rule Use a comma to separate introductory words, phrases, and clauses from the rest of the sentence. • Insert punctuation: • When describing types of college students be sure to consider variations in age. • Although there are many types of cameras most are easy to operate.

4. Avoid awkward expressions in definitions • Try not to use is when or is where when defining your terms • Edit the following sentences: • Early-bird specials is when restaurants offer reduced-price dinners late in the afternoon and early in the evening. • A rollover is where an employee transfers money from one retirement account to another.

5. Subject-verb agreement • Make sure subjects agree in number. • When two subjects are joined by and, the verb should be plural. • The upbeat rhythm and intense lyrics of hip-hop music excite the crowd, making people want to get up and dance. • When two nouns are joined by or, the verb should agree with the noun closest to it. • For most birds, the markings or wing span is easily observed with a pair of good binoculars. • When the subject and verb are separated by a prepositional phrase, the verb should agree with the subject, not a noun in the phrase. • The features (of a hot-air balloon) are best learned by studying the attached diagram.