Omar Campos Ms. Lehman English 1-3 8 November,2018 Survival Is Selfish Do you think is survival is selfish? This is the main question of this essay. Survival is selfish because Laurence Gonzales, Lane Wallace and Elie Wiesel prove so in their stories. The first story that proves survival is selfish is Laurence Gonzales’ “Deep Survival.” Gonzales provides many examples of scenarios in which people had to be selfish in order to survive in “Deep Survival.” Gonzales points out that those who refuse to follow the rules 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). Gonzales explains that those who broke the rules put in place for public safety survived. Their selfishness saved them. Gonzales shows that many survivors survive only by being selfish. He tells the story of a sixteen-year-old girl who survived a plane crash. “Tough and clear headed, this teenage girl, who had lost her shoes on the first day...saved herself;the other survivors took the same eleven days to sit down and die” (Gonzales 326). The only reason the girl survived is that she went on by herself, leaving the others to die. There’s more proof of the selfishness required for survival in Lane Wallace’s essay, “Is survival Selfish.” Author Lane Wallace gives different examples that prove that to survive,people must be selfish.Wallace argues that survival requires people to be selfish. Wallace 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. Survival requires that people be selfish. Wallace uses the story of a woman who saved herself from a plane crash to further this claim. The other passengers in the crash were frozen, unmoving, and she crawled over them to safety. Wallace asks, “Could she really have saved the others? Probably not, and certainly not from the back of the plane. If she’d tried she’d probably have perished with them. So why do survivors berate themselves for not adding to the loss by attempting the impossible?” (Wallace 318). Wallace points out that the woman in the story had to be selfish to survive, and it was only by looking after herself that she was able to make it out alive. Elie Wiesel's experience in Buchenwaldconcertina camp provides furtherevidence. In Night, by Elie Wiesel, readers see that survival depended on being selfish. Wiesel writes that the veteran prisoners have no sympathy for others. Wiesel says, “The veterans told us, you’re lucky to have been brought here so late,” (Wiesel 308). These me had to look out for themselves in order to survive. Wiesel points out that in order to survive,he also had to about himself when hos father was chosen for death in a selection, Wiesel has to leave him behind alone in order to survive. Wiesel writes “My father had remained near the block, leaning against the wall. Then he began to run, to try to catch up with us.” (Wiesel 308). In order to survive Wiesel had to keep marching and had to leave his father behind, likely to die. A lot of people think that survival is unselfish, but they are wrong. Some may argue that survival is not 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 upon closer examination. People can only save others if they put themselves first. You have to be alive to save others. Survival is selfish. I think that survival is selfish because in order to survive, peoplehave to save themselves and not think about others. Gonzales points out that the girl who survivedthe plane crash she was selfish, and because of that she was able to survive and save herself. Lane Wallace argues that the only people to survive 9-11 put themselves ahead of others. The memoirNight, by Elie Wiesel shows own selfish actions that kept him alive. Sodo you think survival is selfish? Works Cited Gonzales, Laurence. “Deep Survival.” Collections ,Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 325-334. Wallace, Lane, “Is Survival Selfish?” Collections, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,2017, pp. 317-320. Wiesel, Elie. Night. Collections, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 307-312.
Argumentative Essay Reflection Questions 1. List one thing you’ve learned from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. What will that look like.
A) One thing learned is to revise my papers by reading it first before turning it in. That would look like every time I would write a paper I would go over and revising it and try to get less more errors then I had in this recent essay.
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?
A) One thing I had to do is I had to take out extra wording in my essay. The reason I had the right explanation but more words that didn’t need to be in there.
3. What the conventions of an argumentativeessay and how did you meet those in this assignment?
A) We started off with a question and we explain why we thought that. We gave agreement and the quote and the explanation. For the three story and we gave a rebuttal and we gave a conclusion to end the paper.
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how wouldn't you improve it.
A) I would improve by making the right corrections and taking my time so I wouldn’t put extra word and make any errors.
5. What is one thing you'reproud of this paper.
A) One thing I was proud of is I got everything organized and so when I type the essay it was nice and smooth