Essay topics: In the United States, it had been common practice since the late 1960s not to suppress natural forest fires. The “let it burn” policy assumed that forest fires would burn themselves out quickly, without causing much damage. However, in the summer of 1988, forest fires in Yellowstone, the most famous national park in the country, burned for more than two months and spread over a huge area, encompassing more than 800,000 acres. Because of the large scale of the damage, many people called for replacing the “let it burn” policy with a policy of extinguishing forest fires as soon as they appeared. Three kinds of damage caused by the “let it burn” policy were emphasized by critics of the policy.
First, Yellowstone fires caused tremendous damage to the park’s trees and other vegetation. When the fires finally died out, nearly one third of Yellowstone’s land had been scorched. Trees were charred and blackened from flames and smoke. Smaller plants were entirely incinerated. What had been a national treasure now seemed like a devastated wasteland.
Second, the park wildlife was affected as well. Large animals like deer and elk were seen fleeing the fire. Many smaller species were probably unable to escape. There was also concern that the destruction of habitats and the disruption of food chains would make it impossible for the animals that survived the fire to return.,
Third, the fires compromised the value of the park as a tourist attraction, which in turn had negative consequences for the local economy. With several thousand acres of the park engulfed in flames, the tourist season was cut short, and a large number of visitors decided to stay away. Of course, local businesses that depended on park visitors suffered as a result.
Both the reading and the lecture discuss the “let it burn”policy. The reading supports the idea that this policy should be replaced with the extinguishing forest fires as soon as they appeared, and it provides three reasons of support. However, in the lecture, the professor says that fires are a natural part of forests. She says that actually fires play a creative role in forests and it is beneficial for forests.
First, the reading asserts that the Yellowstone fires caused a huge damage to the park’s trees and other vegetation. The professor refutes this point by explaining that after that fire the vegetation diversity of the forest increased. New vegetation found an opportunity to grow there, because open lands were available. Moreover, there are some seeds which they would not germinate unless they get into high temperature and the fire provided that condition for them.Thus, the fire enhanced the vegetation diversity of the Yellowstone park.
Second, the reading claims that fires would effect animals too, since they would destroy their habitat and their food chain. However, the professor contradicts this by saying that animals would get benefits too. She says that in open-lands, created after fires, small plants can grow, which would create a great habitat for small animals like rabbits. Also, since new plants start growing after fire, certain food chain would get stronger. Therefore, fires in forests could benefits animals too.
Finally, the reading implies that the fires have a negative effect on tourist attraction, which consequently has a negative effect on local economy. The professor opposes this idea by saying that this would be true if the fires happened every year. But the true is that the fires appear in special conditions, when the rain fall is low and the weather is to hot. For example, the Yellowstone did not have any other huge fire since 1988. So, tourists came back the year after the fire happened.
there are some seeds which they would not germinate
there are some seeds which would not germinate
fires would effect animals too
fires would affect animals too
could benefits animals too.
could benefit animals too.
But the true is that
But the truth is that
weather is to hot.
weather is too hot.
flaws:
No. of Grammatical Errors: 5 2
No. of Words: 321 250
Write the essay in 20 minutes.
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Attribute Value Ideal
Score: 23 in 30
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 5 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 18 12
No. of Words: 321 250
No. of Characters: 1586 1200
No. of Different Words: 163 150
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.233 4.2
Average Word Length: 4.941 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.355 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 104 80
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 85 60
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 46 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 29 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 17.833 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 6.593 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.722 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.33 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.535 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.103 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 4 4