Caitlyn Whitaker Ms. Lehmann English 1-3 8 November 2018 Survival is Selfish Yann Martel once said, “When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival.” This quote explains that when an accident happens, people focus on their own needs for survival;they think of how to defend themselves. Survival is selfish; authors Elie Wiesel, Lane Wallace, and Laurence Gonzales prove this in their stories. They all give examples of people who saved themselves rather than others. Gonzales provides many examples and scenarios in which survivors were selfish. Author Laurence Gonzales tells the story of a 17-year-old girl who survived a plane crash in the Peruvian jungle and thought of herself to survive. “She didn’t spend time bemoaning her fate. She looked to herself, took responsibility, made a plan” (Gonzales 326). The author explains that she put herself first, planned, left the others, and moved on. Gonzales provides another example of being selfish to survive. Gonzales writes a story about many people who almost escaped the World Trade Center turned around and died because they listened to authority figures. “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 because people listened to authority figures, they ended up dying. Only those who put themselves first and ignored the rules put in place for everyone’s safety survived. Gonzales proves that survivors have to be selfish. Lane Wallace gives many examples as to why survival is selfish. Wallace gives a story about a man who saved himself on the Titanic rather than finding more women and children to put into the boat. “After the disaster, however, Ismay was savaged by the media and the general public for climbing into a lifeboat and saving himself when there were other women and children still on board” (Wallace 317). Wallace explains that the man saved himself, because he would have died had he gone to search for more women and children. Next, Wallace tells a story about a woman who was in an airliner that crashed on landing. “After realizing that the people around her were too paralyzed to react, she took direct action, crawling over several rows of people to get to the exit” (Wallace 318). The woman got out of the plane and survived because she was selfish. In both cases, the survivors had to be selfish to survive. In both cases, the survivors had to be selfish to survive. Elie Wiesel explains why survival is selfish in Night. Elie Wiesel tells a story about him and his father at a concentration camp during a selection. Wiesel’s father was chosen to be retested at the selection. To survive Wiesel had to keep walking and leave his father behind to die. 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. Perhaps he had forgotten to tell me something... But we were marching too fast” (Wiesel 312). The author explains that in order to survive, he had to leave his father behind. Wiesel gives another example of the selfishness of survival. Wiesel tells us that the veterans think that they were lucky. “Today, this is a little paradise. The Kapos back then had orders to kill a certain number of prisoners every day. And every week, selection. A merciless selection...Yes, you are lucky” (Wiesel 308). Wiesel explains that theveterans had to be selfish and not get emotionally attached to people so that they would not feel sorry for the other prisoners. Finally, Wiesel’s story about his life shows that because he was selfish, he survived. Some may argue that survival is not selfish, giving examples of people who risked their lives to save others. This seems like a compelling argument on the surface, but it falls apart on closer examination. People think of themselves first when they are in danger. People can only save others if they put themselves first. Survival is selfish; you must put yourself before you can save others. Authors Elie Wiesel, Lane Wallace, and Laurence Gonzales prove this in their stories. Gonzales writes a story in “Deep Survival” about a 17-old-girl who saves only herself from a plane crash. Wallace writes a story in “Is Survival Selfish?” about a man who saves himself on the Titanic. rather than searching for others. Finally, Wiesel writes a story about his life at a concentration camp and how he had to save himself rather than think of others. When your life is threatened, youfocus on saving yourself.
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?
I learned how to introduce the quote, give the quote, and explain the quote. It made my paper look good.
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 change my clincher because I just restated a quote and a clincher hasto be in my own words. I replaced the quote with “when your life is threatened, you focus on saving yourself.” I learned that you cannot restate quotes at the end and that it has to be in your own words.
3. What are the conventions of an argumentative essay and how did you meet those in this assignment?
I would find a quote in the book, and I would introduce it on my paper, then I would state the quote, and finally after that I would explain the quote.
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
I would make it longer and make sure that my words were spelled right.
5. What is one thing you’re proud of in this paper?
I am proud that I made it 3 pages long and I did not make as many mistakes as I thought I would.