How to Write a Classification Essay in Chemistry: Gain without Any Pain

Before you make any step in the direction of writing a classification essay in chemistry, you need someone to share the clarity of a classification essay with you. Let it be us.

In a classification essay, your task is to group situations, notions, people, or ideas according to their similar features.

It means that a classification essay is nothing but an academic assignment type that divides items into various groups taking their characteristics as a predominant factor. Why are these essays so valuable these days? The thing is that they are helpful when people need to make a choice. A category is opposed to what people hear and concentrates on facts.

How to Write a Classification Essay in Chemistry? Just Plan It!

Whatever type of college assignment you are working on, always plan it. The planning stage typically includes two important steps:

• Planning step 1 — Make your mind concerning what you’d like to classify. A perfect choice is definitely working with the topic you know and find rather engaging. Even if you aren’t that lucky to choose the topic yourself, make sure the one offered by your supervisor is distinct. If it is not, then crafting a decent classification essay in chemistry will be rather tough.

  If you are allowed to choose the subject to classify but you have a rather tough time doing that, we suggest you turn to a brainstorming exercise. Start with making observations in the chemistry field to come up with ideas that could be transformed into a topic for a classification essay.

• Planning step 2 — Once the topic is chosen, divide it into three directions within a bit broader category to see what other notions it is surrounded by. This is how you’ll find the process of writing a body block easier.

The planning stage does not end this way. Now you need to proceed to write an outline for your classification essay in chemistry. Treat an outline as the most effective plan with detailed stages to be covered and steps to be taken.

What should your outline include? Typically, it goes with the core argument of the essay and is a sort of a roadmap that will show you the right move if you apply some effort. You have already chosen the topic. Now it is time to think about subtopics, their possible definitions as well as valuable examples that will go with them hand in hand.

A classification essay in chemistry is of a standard scheme and has the following look:

1. The introduction

• A few lines on the background giving the readers a chance to get a bit deeper into the topic in chemistry and revealing what the classification essay is going to be about.
• The hook; usually a rhetorical question that doesn’t require any answer.
• The thesis statement that sheds the light on your goals and reasons behind choosing this very topic and writing this very essay.

2. The body

• Paragraph/block one
  • The first sentence (usually called a topic one) shares the name of the very first class or category
  • The first sentence is followed by a short description that talks on the main features of the class
  • A short but vivid example
• Paragraph/block two
  • The first sentence (usually called a topic one)
  • A short description of the characteristics
  • A vivid example
• Paragraph/block three
  • The first/topic sentence
  • A description of vivid features
  • An example to support the class

3. The conclusion

• Capturing analysis of the classes
• Author’s (your) own opinion of the delivered results

NB. Much depends on the number of classes, of course. In the presented outline, the body includes only three blocks. However, there may be more of them if the number of classes/categories exceeds those three.

The Structure for How to Write a Classification Essay in Chemistry

So, now you have come up with the outline. Now you should start writing a draft. Before you finish your work, you will write and rewrite the draft many times. It is okay for those who are completing a classification task for the first time and need to go through trial and error.

1. The introduction

As it was clear from the outline, the intro part is called to shed light on the topic. By shedding, you do not just name the topic but also provide some background for the readers to understand what essence the essay will reveal.

Then you are answering these four questions:

• Why did you choose this topic?
• What value does it pose?
• How are you planning to disclose it?
• Why is it so important for your reader to learn the ins and outs of the subject?

When coming closer to the end of the introduction part, go with the thesis statement. How to write one?

NB. Many students omit this step believing that the thesis statement should not be treated as an important part of the introduction. In reality, if it is omitted, the classification essay in chemistry will get a low mark. It is not your priority, is it?

The thesis statement is a strongly argumentative part of the introduction. It is something that you don’t prove. It is something that you state: Under normal conditions, there are three categories of the matter: gases, liquids, and solids.

If you are working on a more advanced classification essay in chemistry, the thesis statement doesn’t limit to this sentence. In this case, you need to input a strong option: Under normal conditions, there are three categories of the matter: gases, liquids, and solids. However, during the process of physical change, any of the matters can change its physical state.

Extra details in the latter example give the reader a full picture of the three categories that will be covered in the essay AND shed the light on details that will be added to every class.

2. The body

Your supervisor expects a minimum of three paragraphs in the body block of your classification essay. Each of the paragraphs is focused on a different class/category and is called to talk both about its weak and strong parts.

A paragraph opens with a topic sentence that aims at presenting the name of the class and a general idea. In the following two to three sentences, the class is shortly described. Then you need to give an example of the item belonging to the class. The last sentence of the paragraph includes a transition word phrase that ensures a smooth flow to the next paragraph.

Solids are one of the classes of chemical matters. They are characterized by a fixed shape and volume. Solids are relatively rigid. One of the most common examples of solids is rock. Under normal conditions, rocks preserve their chemical characteristics. But sometimes matters can change their state.

Always mind the word count. Usually, it is previously specified by your supervisor. Depending on the word count, you will choose which of the classes should be described more broadly and for which three sentences are enough.

3. The conclusion

In other words, the conclusion is a very brief summary of the classes that you have already named and described. Once you’ve restated the thesis statement and given a short summary of all the categories, choose one of the categories to recommend, for example, for further studying and discussing.

Your conclusion should be the reflection of the introduction with the only difference: in the intro part, you are required to give a general idea of the essence of the essay, while in the concluding part, you are expected to be more precise and your words should give food for thought.

Depending on their properties, matters can be classified in different ways. The three classes of matter that we have chosen are solids, liquids, and gasses. Though they all possess definite characteristics, each class can transfer into another. The changes of state, however, have no influence on the chemical composition of the matter.

The 6 Don’ts of How to Write a Classification Essay in Chemistry

1. Do not leave any critically important category out. You need to determine the categories that fall under the notion of being critical, specify which of them should be mentioned first and which ones are to go as last. However, neither should be left out.
2. Do not go with a huge number of categories. Otherwise, your essay will feel and look blurred. The optimal choice of categories if three to five.
3. Do not fall for many principles while classifying. We suggest you pick a single principle and make sure all the categories fall for it.
4. Do not forget to add a sort of support for each of the classes: the support is the example that will illustrate the class on the whole.
5. Don’t provide different amounts of examples. Sometimes, students deliver essays with three classes and a different number of examples for each class. If in your draft the number differs, in the actual paper that you are planning to hand in, go with one sample for each class.
6. Do not start with the most essential category, save it till the final body paragraph of your essay comes. This is how you will manage to preserve some tense.

You have your draft ready now. What’s next? We suggest you put your draft aside. If you started long before the deadline, now you have much time left to redo or rewrite the classification essay. Why put the draft aside? You need to spend some time clearing your mind. A few days are enough. Then you can step into another important stage.

How to Write a Classification Essay in Chemistry: Proofreading Time

It is more than once or twice that you will need to go through your essay while proofreading it. Actually, the whole stage takes a few steps that we would kindly like to share with you:

• Rely on spell checkers but don’t go too far with them. usually, such instruments are very helpful when it comes to finding so-called high-level errors but they are mostly useless when it comes to common grammar mistakes.
• Proofread all errors but do not proofread all errors at once. During the first reading, look for spelling errors. During the second one, find punctuation ones. If you try to do both at once, you may miss a few key mistakes.
• Read all words out loud and do it slowly. Quick reading makes your brain skip words. If you find yourself reading to fast and losing the grip of content, start from the very beginning.
• Use the reverse reading technique. Thus you will isolate every word and concentrate on every word rather than a sentence on the whole. This isn’t an option for those who need to check punctuation mistakes. Yet still, this is a perfect option for people focusing on spelling.
• Make notes. Many expert writers suggest students having a hard time proofreading to note down their mistakes. Perhaps, this suggestion works as an investment in the future: while proofreading all future essays you will concentrate on the most problematic places and avoid making mistake there.
• Ask a friend to help you with proofreading. Once you have proofread yourself, seek support from a friend. In most cases, an outsider can focus your attention on the top important moments of your classification essay in chemistry.

Since you are writing yourself, there can’t be any doubts concerning the originality of your essay. However, we suggest you to use a plagiarism checking tool to be on the safe side. It is time to hand in your paper and wait for results. But stay calm: as long as you have been following all of our recommendations while writing, you are most likely to get a high grade.

References:

1. Davis, H., Tyson, J. and Pechenik, J.A. (2010). A short guide to writing about chemistry. Boston: Longman.
2. Ernest Cushing Richardson (2012). Classification, theorectical and practical … : together with an appendix containing an essay … Nabu Press.
3. GROSSMAN, R.B. (1997). An Essay Assignment for Organic Chemistry Courses. The Chemical Educator, 2(2), pp.1–10.