Valuing & judging

Judging in first person

Categorising experiences

Another way we can express judgments and values about the world is by categorising our experiences.

For example, how does the narrator in this snippet classify their behaviour in their early years at school?

I didn’t really get into that much mischief at school, but I did make some mistakes. I remember once I went on a field trip to the zoo and the teacher specifically told us not to make eye contact with the gorilla. But… well, me and a friend thought it would be a good idea to do the exact opposite of what we were told, so we climbed up on the ledge, looked into the enclosure and made eye contact with the gorilla.

Growing Up Aboriginal in AustraliaAnita Heiss (ed)Source

What can we see in this snippet?

How does Frederik categorise his relationship with his neighbours?

It was less a rivalry than a vendetta. This wasn't about trying to outdo each other from season to season, it was about destroying the den Houts so utterly that they should be shamed into moving to Belgium.

How does Cody categorise her style of skating?

Despite spending most of my time in the pool, I'm more of a cruiser than a vert. One time I went to a comp and faceplanted on my first drop-in. I came dead last with an 8-year old who was padded out like the Michelin man. But I'd say I looked pretty good cruising home.

Aside: Different types of classification

To write a variation

Your turn

Write a snippet in which the narrator clarifies how something is categorised.

Categorisation is interesting because it requires thinking about one thing in terms of something else.

For example, on this page we had to think about staring at a gorilla in terms of mischief or mistakes.

But once we start thinking of things in terms of other things, we open the door to the wild possibilities of metaphor.

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