Tamia Goings
Ms. Lehmann
English 1–1A
4 December 2019
Is Survival Selfish?
Do you think survival is selfish? This is the central question of this essay. Survival does require people to be selfish because people can’t count on other people to save them, and people shouldn’t assume they are capable of saving others; it could cost them their lives. Many survival stories prove that if you count on others to save you, then could die.
People can’t count on others to save them. Gonzales describes one plane crash, saying “Everyone who survived the crash stayed put, assuming that they’d be rescued. Many died; the others wound up eating each other to keep from starving” (Gonzales 326). The story shows that if you stay and expect someone to come and save you, you could die. Juliane survived a different plane crash because she left the others and saved herself; she had to look after herself instead of waiting for help. The others who waited for help died. People who waited to be saved during 9-11 also died because rescue personnel couldn’t get to them. “A general announcement that the building was safe, and that people should stay inside until they were told to leave. Before he died, he spoke to his father on the phone: Why did I listen to them, I shouldn’t have. (Gonzales 327). He was going to leave without telling anybody that he was going until security made him go all the way back up the stairs. He should have just left. Not only can people not count on other people to save them, but also people shouldn’t assume they are capable of saving others; it could cost them their lives.
People shouldn’t assume they are capable of saving others; it could cost them their lives. The women who survived the plane crash in “Is survival selfish” would have died had she attempted to save others on the plane” (“Is Survival Selfish” pp. 318, lns. 55-57). The woman saved herself because she didn’t want to die and if she’d tried to help, most likely. Yates had to make the decision to cut his friend loose or they would have both died on the mountain. In the book it quotes “In Yates case, he had time to think hard about the odds, and the possibilities he was facing, and to realize that he couldn’t save anyone but himself” (Wallace 319). You do need to be selfish in order to survive because all the stories of the people who have survived demonstrate their use of selfishness because they didn’t save the others.
Some people argue that survival isn’t selfish. Doctors and nurses, for example have higher rates of survival. The problem with this logic is that many people trapped in survival situations do not have the training rescue personnel have. They likely won’t succeed in saving others because they lack the training. Survival requires selfishness.
In conclusion, survival does require people to be selfish. People can’t expect other people to rescue them, People also shouldn’t think they can save others, it can cause death. Is survival selfish? Definitely.
Page Break
Works Cited
Gonzales, Laurence. Deep Survival. Collections, edited by Kaylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L Mcbride, Erick Palmer, & Lydia Stack. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 325-334.
Wallace, Jane. “Is Survival Selfish?” Collections, Edited by kaylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L Mcbride, Erik Palmer & Lydia Stack. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 317-320.
Argumentative Essay Reflection
Please answer all questions in complete, grammatically correct sentences.
1. Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific.
This took me longer than everybody else because mine was not saved. I was frustrated because it took alot of work, I didn't have a computer at my house so i had to do it at school but we would work on other things somtimes so that is why it took me longer.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
It qualifies because I was arguing if survival was selfish or not. The requirements of this essay were having a rebuttal, claims, and Having support.
3. Explain how you found at least one of the quotations from the essay and tell me why you chose that particular quote. What did it do for your paper? I found one of of the quotes from the book, and i found it by looking for the page number and was paragraph it was in.
Ms. Lehmann
English 1–1A
4 December 2019
Is Survival Selfish?
Do you think survival is selfish? This is the central question of this essay. Survival does require people to be selfish because people can’t count on other people to save them, and people shouldn’t assume they are capable of saving others; it could cost them their lives. Many survival stories prove that if you count on others to save you, then could die.
People can’t count on others to save them. Gonzales describes one plane crash, saying “Everyone who survived the crash stayed put, assuming that they’d be rescued. Many died; the others wound up eating each other to keep from starving” (Gonzales 326). The story shows that if you stay and expect someone to come and save you, you could die. Juliane survived a different plane crash because she left the others and saved herself; she had to look after herself instead of waiting for help. The others who waited for help died. People who waited to be saved during 9-11 also died because rescue personnel couldn’t get to them. “A general announcement that the building was safe, and that people should stay inside until they were told to leave. Before he died, he spoke to his father on the phone: Why did I listen to them, I shouldn’t have. (Gonzales 327). He was going to leave without telling anybody that he was going until security made him go all the way back up the stairs. He should have just left. Not only can people not count on other people to save them, but also people shouldn’t assume they are capable of saving others; it could cost them their lives.
People shouldn’t assume they are capable of saving others; it could cost them their lives. The women who survived the plane crash in “Is survival selfish” would have died had she attempted to save others on the plane” (“Is Survival Selfish” pp. 318, lns. 55-57). The woman saved herself because she didn’t want to die and if she’d tried to help, most likely. Yates had to make the decision to cut his friend loose or they would have both died on the mountain. In the book it quotes “In Yates case, he had time to think hard about the odds, and the possibilities he was facing, and to realize that he couldn’t save anyone but himself” (Wallace 319). You do need to be selfish in order to survive because all the stories of the people who have survived demonstrate their use of selfishness because they didn’t save the others.
Some people argue that survival isn’t selfish. Doctors and nurses, for example have higher rates of survival. The problem with this logic is that many people trapped in survival situations do not have the training rescue personnel have. They likely won’t succeed in saving others because they lack the training. Survival requires selfishness.
In conclusion, survival does require people to be selfish. People can’t expect other people to rescue them, People also shouldn’t think they can save others, it can cause death. Is survival selfish? Definitely.
Page Break
Works Cited
Gonzales, Laurence. Deep Survival. Collections, edited by Kaylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L Mcbride, Erick Palmer, & Lydia Stack. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 325-334.
Wallace, Jane. “Is Survival Selfish?” Collections, Edited by kaylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L Mcbride, Erik Palmer & Lydia Stack. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 317-320.
Argumentative Essay Reflection
Please answer all questions in complete, grammatically correct sentences.
1. Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific.
This took me longer than everybody else because mine was not saved. I was frustrated because it took alot of work, I didn't have a computer at my house so i had to do it at school but we would work on other things somtimes so that is why it took me longer.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
It qualifies because I was arguing if survival was selfish or not. The requirements of this essay were having a rebuttal, claims, and Having support.
3. Explain how you found at least one of the quotations from the essay and tell me why you chose that particular quote. What did it do for your paper? I found one of of the quotes from the book, and i found it by looking for the page number and was paragraph it was in.