Jessy Cardenas Ms. Lehmann English 1-3 8 November 2018 Survival, Selfish or Not? Do you think that survival is selfish? Many people believe that survival is selfish. People have to be selfish to survive as shown in the stories of Laurence Gonzales, Lane Wallace, and Elie Wiesel. The following paragraphs are going to prove that survival is selfish. Laurence Gonzales, the writer of “Deep Survival,” gives multiple examples of people needing to be selfish in order to survive. Gonzales writes, “In the World Trade Center disaster, many people who were used to following the rules died because they did what they were told by authority figures” (Gonzales 327). The rules were placed there for the well-being of the majority of people. By putting themselves first and disregarding the risk to others, people survived. Gonzales cites multiple examples of this. Another example is a 17-year-old girl who survives a plane crash. Gonzales says, “Tough and clearheaded, this teenage girl, who had lost her shoes (not to mention her mother) on the first day, saved herself” (Gonzales 326). This shows that she had to save herself or else she would die. She didn’t try to save others. These are just some of the examples of people having to be selfish in order to live. Lane Wallace, the writer of “Is Survival Selfish”. Lane Wallace gives numerous examples of people being selfish in order to survive. Sometimes you can’t save anyone else, so you would have been dumb to try. Wallace also writes “There is a fine line between brave and foolish. There can also be a fine line between smart and selfish.”(Wallace 320). Wallace explains that being brave and saving others before yourself is a foolish thing to do in a survival situation. As a result, being selfish is the smart thing to do to do. Survival requires that people be selfish. That is one of the points that Wallace makes, and there are many others. People burden themselves with the guilt of someone elses death when there was even the slightest chance of saving them. Wallace also writes “Could she really have the others? Probably not, and certainly not from the back of the plane. If she’d tried, she probably would have perished with them.”(Wallace 320). Wallace points out that the woman in the story had to be selfish to survive, and it was only be looking after that she was able to make it out alive. Another author that talks about this is ElieWiesle. Elie Wiesel is another author that gives us examples of selfishness being a requirement for survival. In his novel Night, Weisel writes, “The veterans told us ‘You’re lucky to have been brought here so late. Today, this is paradise compared to what the camp was two years ago. Back then Bruna was a veritable hell’ (Weisel 308). This shows survivors are selfish because the veterans put their own emotional well-being ahead of the others. This is not the only example of people having to be selfish to survive. Weisle knew there was a chance he would see his father again but he wanted to survive so he kept going. Weisle also writes, “My father had remained neat the block, leaning against the wall. Then he began to run, to try to catch up with us. Perhaps he had forgotten to tell me something...But we were marching too fast” (Weisel 312). This means that he wanted to go say one last good bye to his dad before he might be gone forever, but he wanted to survive more so he kept moving. Weisel gives a lot of examples of people being selfish to survive. Some may argue that survival isn’t selfish, giving examples of people who risk their lives to save others. This seems like a compelling argument on the surface, but it falls apart on closer examination. People can only save others if they put themselves first. You have to be alive to help others. Is survival selfish? This is a very complex question. All of the passages given prove that survival is selfish. So, is survival selfish? All the signs lead to a clear-cut answer:yes.Survival is selfish.
Argumentative Essay Reflection 1. List one thing you've learned from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. What will that look like?
I learned that when I state something in one of these he have to put proof of the statement.
2. Identify a specific revision you were asked to make and explain why (this can be at any stage of the writing process). How did you revise? What did you learn?
I was asked to pay more attention to my words because I would get carried away and mess up my sentences.
3. What are the conventions of an argumentative essay and how did you meet those in this assignments?
You have to give examples and proofs and give quotes.
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
I would have put more effort into it and made it better in general.
5. What is one thing you're proud of in the paper?
I am proud that this paper came out so good. I did not expect it to be this good.