writing day 7

by Ray Sun — on  , 

Day 7: Personal Choice & Decision & Influence

TASK I: Integrated Writing

Reading: Env

-Starting in 1972, the National Park Service established a policy for forest fires called natural burn. It was acknowledged that some forest fires, such as those caused by lightning, were necessary for forests to maintain balanced ecosystems, so the fires should be allowed to burn. However, and immense fire in Yellowstone National Park in 1988 caused this policyy to be abandoned since the fire was initially allowed to burn yet soon raged out of control, destroying much of the park. As a result of the fire, many believed the park to have been severely and irrevocably damaged.

  • The fire of 1988 destroyed much of Yellowstone, which is America’s oldest and most beloved national park. Massive areas of vegetation were destroyed, and large empty spaces and acres of burned and blackened trees greeted visitors. The rivers and streams were clogged with ash, and the ecosystem of the park was altered beyond repair.

  • In addition, great numbers of animals were killed by the fires that burned out of control. The fires were propelled by high winds moving, in some cases, as many as ten miles a day. Many small animals perished in the flames. The fires’ rapid advances gave the wildlife little chance to escape. Even today, few of these small forest dwellers have returned to live in the park.

  • In the years immediately following the fires, the number of visitors declined tremendously. No one was interested in seeing a blackened and treeless park on vacation. Yellowstone had previously been renowned for its marvelous vistas and unique geological formations such as the geyser Old Faithful. But now its reputation as America’s wonder is damaged like the park, perhaps even permanently.

    establish:(v) to create; to start immense:(a)huge irrevocably:(ad) forever; permanently vegetation: (n) plant life clog:(v) to stop up; to block propel:(v) to push; to drive forward perish:(v) to die dweller:(n) an inhabitant; a resident vista:(n) a view geyser:(n) a hot spring that shoots up resident out of the earth

Transcript:

  • The great fire of 1988 in Yellowstone National Park led to a change in the natural burn policy so that there’s a more, um, a more active firefighting stance nowadays. However, I feel this was merely a reaction to the idea that this policy had ruined one of America’s great wonders. On the contrary though, Yellowstone was not destroyed permanently, and there are numerous signs that the park is recovering while still receiving a great many visitors. When a forest burns, much of the dead material goes into the soil. This makes the soil much richer than in the past and allows for new vegetation to spring up. The loss of trees also enables more sunlight to penetrate, thereby allowing more vegetation to grow. All of this is happening in Yellowstone right now, which is accelerating the recovery process.

  • This new vegetation has attracted more of nature’s small creatures to replace those that died in the fires. Some species that were previously never even a part of park’s ecosystem have found their way to Yellowstone. Rabbits… Yes, rabbits, once very rare in the park, are coming in droves to feast on the new undergrowth vegetation.

  • In the years after the fires, the number of visitors to Yellowstone did decline. That is true. However, this was not only because of the fires but was also due to an economic crisis the United States was enduring at that time. The late 1980s and early 1990s were hard times for a lot of people, so they couldn’t afford to take vacations. If you look at the numbers, you’ll see that Yellowstone was not the only place that saw a decline in tourism. Fortunately, by the mid-1990s, once the crisis had passed, the numbers of tourists had risen again.

Answer:

  • The reading passage describes the reasons why Yellowstone National Park has been permanently ruined by the fire of 1988, but the professor counters by suggesting some reasons as to why park is recovering.

  • The reading first mentions the extreme problems caused by the great fire to the forests, rivers and streams in the park. The author believes the park cannot recover from all of this damage. However, the professor says that the burned material and increased amounts of sunlight will help new vegetation to grow more quickly.

  • In response to the reading passage’s assertion that the animals killed or driven away by the fire have not been replaced, the professor claims that new species of animals are now moving into the park to eat the growing vegetation. For example, rabbits were rare in the park in the past, but they are now coming in large numbers of dwell in the park.

  • The reading passage then describes how tourism to the park declined greatly after the fire. The professor agrees with that claim but blames the decline on the poor economic situation in the country in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She then declares that more and more tourists are starting to return to the park nowadays.

  • While the author of the reading passage believes that the park will never return to the way it used to be, the professor is convinced of Yellowstone’s recovery.

Task1 cont.

TASK II: Independent Writing

Sample 1: A person should never make an important decision alone.

  • Some people prefer to make all of their important decisions without first consulting with others. I, on the other hand, feel that we should never make important decisions on our own. I feel this way for two reasons, which I will explore in the following essay.

  • ​First of all, while we might think our lives are unique there is always someone close to us that has been faced with the same decision. By consulting with someone who has made a similar decision in the past, we can more carefully weigh our options. For example, when I graduated from high school five years ago I was forced to decide whether I should enroll in either a trade school or a university. I knew that a trade school would lead to more reliable employment in the future, but I also knew that a university would provide a more stimulating intellectual environment. I did not think that my old-fashioned and practical-minded parents would have struggled with such a dilemma in their youth, but when I talked it out with my father I found out that despite his tendencies towards conservatism and practical ways, as a young man he had given consideration to studying the liberal arts. As we talked about his motivations and some of the regrets associated with his decision I was able to more fully consider all of my own options. ​

  • ​Secondly, I feel that when we make decisions alone, we are more likely to make rash and impulsive moves. Talking about a problem with another person takes time, and thus our decision making process is slowed down. For example, when I decided to buy a new car last year I made purchase the very same day that the idea popped into my head. It seemed like a good idea at the time – gas prices were low and there was plenty of parking available on campus. However, when I told one of my classmates about my purchase she reminded me that gas prices always shoot up when we least expect them to, and that parking was easy only to find at that time because it was summer vacation and fewer students were on campus. Had I talked about these issues before buying the car I might have reconsidered whether or not it was a good idea.

  • ​In conclusion, I strongly believe that it is never a good idea to make decisions without first talking to someone about them. This is because there is always someone in our life who has had to deal with a similar situation, and because talking about our decisions prevents us from acting impulsively.

Sample 2: We can learn more from people at a higher level than us (like teachers) than from people who are at the same level as us

  • There are a lot of people who feel strongly that we can learn more from people at our own level than from people at a higher level. While this may be true in limited circumstances, I feel that for the most part it is people at a higher level, like our teachers and our bosses, who can teach us most in life. I feel this way for two reasons, which I will explore in the following essay.

  • First of all, real-world experience is one of the most valuable sources of education around, and it is something that people above us have plenty of. Young people like myself are full of bright ideas and plans for the future, but our ideas are all hypothetical, and based mostly on assumptions rather than hard facts. My own experience is a good example of this. Following my graduation from university, I drew up plans to start a small software development firm. My plans were exceptionally detailed, and I was confident that my business would be a success. However, when I consulted with one of my former professors, his advice opened my eyes to the fact that my plan was missing key points. I had concentrated on all of the most exciting aspects of starting a business, but I had not given much thought to the more mundane details I would have to sort out, like how to rent office space or how to pay my taxes. His years of real world experience opened my eyes to such topics.

  • Moreover, people who are above us are more likely to actually be trained as educators, which means they can more effectively and efficiently convey lessons and instructions. A young person who is very bright and a master of his particular field of expertise may be unable to teach others about it if he lacks the knowledge of how to convey information to beginners. For example, several years ago I shared an introductory physics class with Philip, a good friend of mine. Philip excelled in all of his classes, and achieved particularly impressive grades in the sciences. One week when I was struggling in the class, Philip offered to tutor me, so that I could keep up. Our tutoring sessions did not go well – try as he might, Phil was unable to help me understand even the most basic topics. In desperation, I visited our professor to seek assistance. To my surprise, she was able to correct my misunderstandings after only half an hour of conversation. It was not her depth of knowledge of the topic that permitted her to achieve this, but her training as an educator.

  • In conclusion, I strongly believe that we can learn more from people who are above us than we can from people on our own level. This is because older people tend to have more experience than younger people, and because they are more likely to have training in education and instruction.

Sample 3: Some students prefer to study alone. Others prefer to study with a group of students. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

  • Everyone has their own prefered study methods, and all of them have their benefits. I am of the opinion that it is better to study alone than to study as part of a group. I feel this way for two main reasons, which I will explore in the following essay.

  • To begin with, studying alone allows me to focus on specific areas of a subject that I am struggling with, rather than doing a broad overview of the class. I always attend my classes and communicate regularly with my professors and teachers, so I am constantly aware of which topics I need to focus on when I study, and which topics I can safely ignore. When I study in a group, everyone in the group has different needs, and the study session is required to touch on all of them. As an inexperienced freshman four years ago, I was not aware of this and found myself wasting my time studying in a group for an important European history exam. I knew that I really needed to focus on religious history, but sat uncomfortably through a group study session that progressed through political, cultural, scientific, literary and artistic history before touching only briefly on the issue of religion. I performed poorly on the test that followed and would have done much better if I had instead spent all of my time studying religion by myself.

  • Furthermore, I recognize that I am a very social creature, and this means that when I study in a group I am easily distracted. I am not the only person who has this problem; many people will agree that they too desire to socialize rather than study when in a group of friends and classmates. My example of studying for that European history class is a good example of this. Not only did I suffer from the fact that the we only touched briefly on my problem area, but I hardly benefited from our studies of the other topics from the class, as certain group members (including myself) were easily drawn off-topic. We were quick to make jokes about the material being covered, or make tenuous and meaningless connections between those topics and our own lives. Thankfully I have avoided this problem since then as I have decided to only study by myself.

  • In conclusion, I strongly believe that studying alone is better than studying in a group. This is because studying in a group allows me to focus on the areas that I need to, and because it helps me to avoid wasting time on socializing.