i'm so stuck on this assignment. i don't get it at all. :

1. Using the categories you created earlier for ice cream and toppings, write an informal classification/division essay or poem. don't forget to include a theme and maintain a consistent tone for your essay or poem. since the subject is ice cream, the tone should not be serious, but entertaining and/or informative.

(here is the earlier assignment:
strawberry cheesecake, coffee, pistachio
oreo cookie, sprinkles, choc syrup
:
sc: oreo : bitter
coffee: sprinkles : sweet
pistachio: cs : unusual
sc: sprinkles : delightful
coffee: cs : scrumptious
pistachio: oreo : horrible
sc: cs : not bad
coffee: oreo : delightful
pistachio: sprinkles : refreshing

2. then, using the essay you just developed about ice cream and toppings, write three different openings using three different methods from the list provided:
'effective openings include explaining or describing the topic, providing background information about the topic, telling an anecdote that illustrates the main point of the writing, asking a question that you will answer later in the piece, describing an effect that you will explain in the writing, describing a dramatic or exciting moment in the piece you are about to write, providing a strinking fact related to the topic, or including an interesting quotation about the topic'

right now i'm just worried about #1-writing the essay i'm not sure how to write a classification/division essay

6 answers

'imagine a situation in which you have gathered a great deal of information about a topic. you want to use the info in an essay or a poem, but you aren't sure how all the pieces will fit together. what you need to do is separate the info into groups, or idvisions, and then calssify the facts by listing them under the appropriate divisions.
if, for ex, you want to write about the different types of pizza available at a local pizzeria and why you like certain kinds but not others , the first thing you should do is write down all of the varieties of pizza offered there. ...'

this is how my text describes classification to develop writing skills

i want to write a poem instead of an essay for the above assignment

please please help me. i'm really not sure how to. thank you so much
please help guys
I understand the goal of the assignment -- to help you organize a large body of material. However, I think this ice cream and toppings is such a mundane and blah topic, that it's not worth spending time and energy on. I don't see how you could possibly write something entertaining or informative about ice cream toppings. And exciting???? No way!

Writing a poem is probably your best choice for this assignment. Here's one way you could organize your poem:

* By how well you like the combinations -- Yuck! OK! and Great!

You may think of other combinations.

Good luck!
ok. ms.sue i get what you're saying...so basically you just want me to describe the combinations in the poem?

thank you so much for helping
Yes -- and you're welcome.
Very interesting topic for writing a work!