How can I pass an attribute of objects as a parameter?

For example, I have this function using node classification:

function example(){

var exampleVar = nodes.classfication;

//below i use exampleVar to do calculations
.
.
.
.
}

      

        
        
        
      

    

but sometimes I want to get the status of the nodes, so I do this:

function example(){

    var exampleVar = nodes.status;

    //below i use exampleVar to do calculations
    .
    .
    .
    .
    }

      

        
        
        
      

    

I don't want to repeat code like (in my code) there is quite a lot of code in the function I want to reuse. So, depending on what I want to extract from this function, pass it like this:

function example(thisAttribute){

    var exampleVar = nodes.thisAttribute; //using the variable passed to the function

    //below i use exampleVar to do calculations
    .
    .
    .
    .
    }

      

        
        
        
      

    

This doesn't work, how do I go about passing an object attribute as a function parameter? I tried looking online but I don't think Im looking for the right things as I can't find anything to help. Thanks in advance anyway :)