Writing better essays

Look at how this essay manages to describe complex environmental problems in a clear way in two or three sentences. You must avoid being so excited about the examples you are using that you ramble on about them giving too many details. You need to give only enough detail so that it sounds convincing.

Natural disasters are a sign of nature’s revenge on humanity. Discuss.
Outline
1. Introduction and Thesis statement:
Natural disasters are the revenge of the nature to some extent

Body paragraphs
2.Some catastrophes are new and caused by humans and these are the revenge of nature.
a. Sandstorms caused by desertification.
b. Acid rain caused by pollution.
3. Some natural disasters have existed for millions of years and have little connection with the actions of people.
a. Volcanic eruptions have existed for millions of years.
b. Earthquakes have little connection with the actions of people.
4. Human activities accelerate some natural disasters
a. Deforestation leads to landslides and floods
b. The use of CFC contributes to El Nino

5. Conclusion
It is human activity that aggravates these disasters. We should take responsibility for it and make it right.

Essay
1) A knowledge of geography shows that disasters are natural and some are even essential for the maintenance of the earth’s balance. 2) Natural disasters have existed since the birth of the earth. 3) They were nightmares for human before they acquired sufficient knowledge to cope with them. However, we seem to be facing more and more catastrophes in modern times. Is this the revenge of nature? To some extent, the answer is yes, nature is taking revenge. (Better order 2,3,1 because this goes from general to specific)

Catastrophes that are new and caused by humans are, to a large extent, the revenge of nature. Along with the civilisation of humanity and the development of industry, many new disasters such as sandstorms and acid rain have come about and with disastrous results. Desertification is a process that turns productive lands such as forests and grasslands into unproductive land or deserts. Due to the overgrazing of animals in certain areas that are often near sources of water and the poor management of the land already depleted of vegetation, the desertification process is destructive and irreversible. An example of the consequences of the desertification in Northwest China is the sandstorms in Beijing which covers homes, streets and cars in a brown dust and lead to a host of respiratory problems for people who live there. Acid rain is another natural disaster that is caused by people’s inability to stem pollution. Toxic gases are released by industries everyday and have greatly polluted the earth’s atmosphere. These gases result in acid rain that does great harm to the buildings and carbonate rocks, and leads to the acidification of the rivers, lakes, streams and forests. Hence, sandstorms and acid rain can be seen as nature's revenge on humanity because they are a direct result of mankind’s abuse of natural resources and destructive practices.

Yet, some natural disasters have existed for millions of years and have little connection with the actions of people. Volcanic eruptions have existed for millions of years and it is widely acknowledged that volcanic eruptions created the terrain of the earth. If there had been no volcanic eruptions, some of the most beautiful and scenic places on earth today would no longer exist. For example, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and the Swiss Alps. Earthquakes have little connection with the actions of people. Thousands of earthquakes happen each day and only few of them are harmful. The main cause of earthquakes is the movement of the plates. When they crash into each other the movements inside the earth will accelerate causing some friction but it is often released in harmless ways such as in hot springs and mud pools. Hence, such earth movements occur naturally with or without the interference of humanity and they cannot be seen as nature's revenge on humanity.

Natural disasters are not limited to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, some natural disasters have existed for millions of years but human activities really aggravate catastrophes such as landslides, floods and climatic changes, so that they happen more often and with more drastic results. In recent years, floods have become a major problem in many countries due to increased deforestation. In order, to accelerate the speed of development human beings have began to use natural resources irresponsibly and they have cut down trees for wood and paper products. This depletion of the forests means that the root system of the trees that holds the soil together is gone and topsoil is washed away each time it rains. In addition, the root systems of the trees soak up excess water and with that gone the soil becomes waterlogged and water accumulates resulting in landslides and flooding becoming more and more severe with each passing storm. Another natural disaster that has gotten worse is the El Nino phenomenon. El Nino is an abnormal warming of the surface ocean water of the eastern tropical Pacific caused by global warming. Many believe that El Nino is the result of the excessive carbon emissions and the use of CFC which lead to a thinning of the ozone layer resulting in global warming. A century ago, El Nino happened once per ten years but now the frequency has increased to once ever two years. Scientists believe this phenomenon is the cause of floods, droughts and extreme weather patterns in different parts of the world. It would seem as if nature is running its course and humans are helping it; as such it would be hard to say in no uncertain terms that
nature is taking revenge.

In conclusion, it is human activity that aggravates natural disasters and so it seems as if nature is taking revenge on humans. So, we should take responsibility for our abuse of our environment for the sake of our descendants. We can no longer take our environment for granted but we have to make concerted efforts to address environmental issues sooner rather than later.

NOTES ON HOW TO SELECT EXAMPLES
In essays you are asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details or simply telling the information you know. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Instructors call this sentence a "thesis" or a "claim."
So, if your essay question says to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: "First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some tooth paste. Then, you floss with a waxed string. Finally, gargle with mouthwash." Instead, you could say, "Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association." Or, "From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived." Facts are not thesis statements because they do not make a claim/ argument which you need to support in your essay.
Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn't have to say "argument" anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument, see click link: handout on argument.
3. What kind of evidence do you need?
There are lots of different types of proof or evidence. Here are several common types:
Einstein proof--a famous (or not so famous) smart person agrees with you or says something you can use to back up your point.
Case proof--a case in which your point works or the other person's point does not work to demonstrate your idea. These may come from your experience, hypothetical situations, or from outside sources.
Fact proof--statistics, "objective" information. You will need to lots of information.
For example proof--examples from the subject or text you are studying to back up your focused point. For example, you might use specific examples of scientic theories to the progress of science.
Criteria for judging evidenceNot all evidence, though, is reliable, or of equal value. Statistics, as we know, can lie, research findings can be erroneous, or based on questionable methodology, and opinions can be subject to personal and cultural biases. Even so called facts can be influenced by perception. Before choosing evidence you should, therefore, make sure that you assess its quality. You can do this by asking the following questions:
Is it accurate?
Is it relevant?
Is it representative?
Is it adequate?
Does it contain any biases?
Essays that look for examples
Exemplification essays may contain both brief and comprehensive examples. Brief examples may occur relatively frequently within the essay, with just enough concise details to illustrate clear-cut ideas. It is important that your writing is succinct. Comprehensive examples are used to illustrate complex ideas that can’t be adequately explained using brief examples.
The examples used in your essay must be relevant, that is they must be directly to the point. You shouldn’t necessarily expend lots of ink on a particular example just because you’ve found a lot of information on it. Instead find as many examples as possible and then be choosey about what you include, using the strongest, most representative, examples. If they lead to unexpected conclusions consider altering your essay thesis in light of the new evidence. Make every example work in your favour.
The examples used in your essay must also be representative. Unless you’re specifically discussing exceptions to a rule your examples must reflect the majority (i.e. what’s usually the case, or what is “on average” true). You might, for example, hear a drinker try to deny the risks of heavy drinking because he knew someone who drank every day until he was ninety. This isn’t a valid example since most people couldn’t drink a lot over an extended period without succumbing to some ill effects. The example doesn’t represent what would usually happen to most people. Similarly it wouldn’t be representative to say the summers round your way are wet simply because last year the summer was rainy. If the last several summers before this were sunny then one, or even two, rainy summers are not representative of what usually happens in the longer run.