Lesly Lagunas
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
3 December 2019
Survival is Selfish
Do you think is 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 people must save themselves.
People can’t count on other people because they often die. People who waited to be saved during 9-11 died because rescue personnel couldn’t get them. “Many people who were used to following the rules died because they did what they were told by authority figures” (Gonzales 327). People died because they followed the rules. They died because the authorities told them to go back inside because it was safe, but if they would have listened, they would have been alive. They should have been selfish and not listened to the authorities and they would be alive, but they were followers, so they followed the rules, and that’s what got them killed. Another example is Juliane, the girl who survived the 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. “The others who had lived through the fall decided to await rescue, which is not necessarily a bad idea either. But expecting someone else to take responsibility for your well-being can be fatal...the other survivors took the same eleven days to sit down and die” (Gonzales 326). Juliane decide to save herself instead of waiting with the other people for rescue. The other people that waited for rescue died because they were followers. The people who didn’t do anything were followers and they just sat down and waited for rescue, but Juliane didn’t wait because she wanted to save herself. She was selfish, and she saved herself. Not only can people not count on other people to save them, but people shouldn’t assume they are capable of saving others; it could cost them their lives.
People who know their own limitations have better odds of surviving in a crisis. The woman who survived the plane crash would have died had she attempted to save others on the plane. “Could she really saved the others? Probably not, and certainly not from the back of the plane. If she tried, she probably would have perished with them” (Wallace 318). The other people didn’t do anything; they were just sitting down and screaming and yelling, while she crawled all over those people to get to the emergency exit. The others didn’t even run towards the exit. She could’ve gone back for those people, but they weren’t doing anything, so she did what none of them did; she saved herself from dying. Another example is Yates, who had to make the decision to cut his friend loose or they would have both died on the mountain. “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). Yates cut his friend, Simpson, loose because Yate didn’t want to die. Simpson survived the fall, but Yates was too selfish to fall with him. They both lived because Yates was selfish. Yates didn’t even think about his friend; he only cared about whether he was going to die or live.
Although it’s clear that survival is selfish, there are those who disagree. Some people argue that people need a reason to survive; this is often thinking of others and the loss they would suffer were they to die. The truth is, sometimes people don’t think about others, they are just afraid that they’ll die, so they think about themselves. When the blockältest tried to tell the other people that everything would be fine, the truth was that he only did that so he could sleep. He lived because he looked after himself. Ultimately, the evidence is overwhelming that survival is selfish.
People do have to be selfish because they 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. I think you can’t count always on other people to save you because they sometimes don’t even care about other people, they just care about themselves. People shouldn’t assume they are capable of saving others; because people must sometimes make the decision to leave other people, to save themselves. Is survival selfish? Yes.
Work Cited Page
Lane, Wallace. “Is Survival Selfish?” Collections, Edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Houghen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 317-320.
Laurence, Gonzales. Deep Survival. Collections, Edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 325-334.
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.
First I had to go through the process if I would agree to be selfish or not but I decide to be selfish, why? Because I think that you have to be selfish to survive. Then my teacher gave me a paper where I can choose from the selfish part, which I choose two claims. Next my first claim then, I typed the example, then I had to find a quote related to my example. After I typed my quote, I have to explain what was related to both of them. I had to move on to my second example and a related quote. Next I had to explain how both are related. Next I started a different paragraph and I had to do all the steps all over but with my second claim a different example and different quote. Then I started a different paragraph were I had to write my rebuttal. I started with a different paragraph were I wrote my first claim and second claim and I last wrote my question that I had in the being and answered it. Lastly I did my work cited page.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
This paper is arguing if survival selfish or not selfish. I meet them by arguing that survival is selfish.
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 them by the book "Collection" where it told us the pages to find it in. I choose that quotes by trying to find something that relates to my explanation. I helped make my explanation true. The quote is helping to make my statement true.
Lesly Lagunas
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
3 December 2019
Survival is Selfish
Do you think is 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 people must save themselves.
People can’t count on other people because they often die. People who waited to be saved during 9-11 died because rescue personnel couldn’t get them. “Many people who were used to following the rules died because they did what they were told by authority figures” (Gonzales 327). People died because they followed the rules. They died because the authorities told them to go back inside because it was safe, but if they would have listened, they would have been alive. They should have been selfish and not listened to the authorities and they would be alive, but they were followers, so they followed the rules, and that’s what got them killed. Another example is Juliane, the girl who survived the 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. “The others who had lived through the fall decided to await rescue, which is not necessarily a bad idea either. But expecting someone else to take responsibility for your well-being can be fatal...the other survivors took the same eleven days to sit down and die” (Gonzales 326). Juliane decide to save herself instead of waiting with the other people for rescue. The other people that waited for rescue died because they were followers. The people who didn’t do anything were followers and they just sat down and waited for rescue, but Juliane didn’t wait because she wanted to save herself. She was selfish, and she saved herself. Not only can people not count on other people to save them, but people shouldn’t assume they are capable of saving others; it could cost them their lives.
People who know their own limitations have better odds of surviving in a crisis. The woman who survived the plane crash would have died had she attempted to save others on the plane. “Could she really saved the others? Probably not, and certainly not from the back of the plane. If she tried, she probably would have perished with them” (Wallace 318). The other people didn’t do anything; they were just sitting down and screaming and yelling, while she crawled all over those people to get to the emergency exit. The others didn’t even run towards the exit. She could’ve gone back for those people, but they weren’t doing anything, so she did what none of them did; she saved herself from dying. Another example is Yates, who had to make the decision to cut his friend loose or they would have both died on the mountain. “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). Yates cut his friend, Simpson, loose because Yate didn’t want to die. Simpson survived the fall, but Yates was too selfish to fall with him. They both lived because Yates was selfish. Yates didn’t even think about his friend; he only cared about whether he was going to die or live.
Although it’s clear that survival is selfish, there are those who disagree. Some people argue that people need a reason to survive; this is often thinking of others and the loss they would suffer were they to die. The truth is, sometimes people don’t think about others, they are just afraid that they’ll die, so they think about themselves. When the blockältest tried to tell the other people that everything would be fine, the truth was that he only did that so he could sleep. He lived because he looked after himself. Ultimately, the evidence is overwhelming that survival is selfish.
People do have to be selfish because they 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. I think you can’t count always on other people to save you because they sometimes don’t even care about other people, they just care about themselves. People shouldn’t assume they are capable of saving others; because people must sometimes make the decision to leave other people, to save themselves. Is survival selfish? Yes.
Work Cited Page
Lane, Wallace. “Is Survival Selfish?” Collections, Edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Houghen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 317-320.
Laurence, Gonzales. Deep Survival. Collections, Edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 325-334.
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.
First I had to go through the process if I would agree to be selfish or not but I decide to be selfish, why? Because I think that you have to be selfish to survive. Then my teacher gave me a paper where I can choose from the selfish part, which I choose two claims. Next my first claim then, I typed the example, then I had to find a quote related to my example. After I typed my quote, I have to explain what was related to both of them. I had to move on to my second example and a related quote. Next I had to explain how both are related. Next I started a different paragraph and I had to do all the steps all over but with my second claim a different example and different quote. Then I started a different paragraph were I had to write my rebuttal. I started with a different paragraph were I wrote my first claim and second claim and I last wrote my question that I had in the being and answered it. Lastly I did my work cited page.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
This paper is arguing if survival selfish or not selfish. I meet them by arguing that survival is selfish.
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 them by the book "Collection" where it told us the pages to find it in. I choose that quotes by trying to find something that relates to my explanation. I helped make my explanation true. The quote is helping to make my statement true.