Marvin Vega
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
3 December 2019
Survival Is 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 apathy will kill people faster than anything, so people must be selfish and care about what happens to them. Many stories that have to do with survival prove that you can’t always count on other people to save you.
Most people survive by not waiting for someone to save them. In the article Deep Survival, Juliane survived because she acted by herself to save herself. The rest of the people died because they waited for people to come rescue them. Laurence Gonzales said, “Tough and clearheaded, this teenage girl, who had lost her shoes (not to mention her mother) on the first day, saved herself; the other survivors took the same eleven days to sit down and die” (Gonzales 326). When the plane crashed, Juliane decided to go look for help and survived while the others decided to stay and wait for help. They all died. She could’ve tried to save them, but it would have cost her her life. Another example of people who waited to be saved can be seen in 9-11. Many died because rescue personnel couldn’t get to them. People could’ve lived if they just took action instead of waiting for help. Laurence Gonzales said, “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). If people had been selfish and gotten out, more people could’ve survived.
If you don’t care about what happens to you, apathy will kill you faster than anything else. In Deep Survival, Ronald DiFrancesco was able to survive 9-11 because he cared about himself and wanted to live. Laurence Gonzales said “DiFrancesco, too, was collapsing, but then he said to himself,’ “I’ve got to see my wife and kids again’” (Gonzales 332) If he gave up like the rest of the people, he would’ve died, too, but he didn’t. He kept going to survive. Another example is when some people are prepared and have everything they need to survive, and they still die because they give in to apathy and waited for someone to come rescue them. Laurence Gonzales said “Conversely, searchers are always amazed to find people who have died while in possession of everything they needed to survive” (Gonzales 327). The people died because they didn’t care to live and just sat there waiting for help even though they had everything to survive for days. They didn’t even touch them. If they were selfish, they could’ve lived, too.
Some people argue that survival isn’t selfish because some people save themselves because they are thinking about how much their family would miss them if they didn't make it out alive. This is wrong because that doesn’t mean survival isn’t selfish. These people survived because they don’t care about the other people who are also in their situation. Di Francesco was able to get out by pushing people out of his way while thinking about his family. So, it’s obvious that survival is selfish.
Because most people survive by not waiting for someone to save them and if you don’t care about what happens to you, apathy will kill you faster than anything else, survival is selfish. In the article Deep Survival, Juliane survived because she acted by herself, to save herself and the rest of the people died because they waited for people to come rescue them. Ronald DiFrancesco was able to survive 9-11 because he cared about himself and wanted to live. So, is survival selfish? My opinion is survival is that selfish because if you aren’t selfish and don’t care about yourself in a survival situation, you will probably end up dead.
Works Cited
Wallace, Lane. “Is Survival Selfish?” Collections, Edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 317-320.
Gonzales, Laurence. “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.
I had to read about the articles first and after I read through them I got notes taken from there we discussed with friends about what we think if survival is selfish or not. From there I started writing down why I think Survival is selfish.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
We had to discuss about why we think survival is selfish or not selfish I gave me two best points on why I think survival is selfish. Had to discuss a topic and give points about what you think of it.
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?
The quotes I choose were good to claim my point on why I think survival is selfish and what it did for my paper is it helped me prove my point.
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
3 December 2019
Survival Is 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 apathy will kill people faster than anything, so people must be selfish and care about what happens to them. Many stories that have to do with survival prove that you can’t always count on other people to save you.
Most people survive by not waiting for someone to save them. In the article Deep Survival, Juliane survived because she acted by herself to save herself. The rest of the people died because they waited for people to come rescue them. Laurence Gonzales said, “Tough and clearheaded, this teenage girl, who had lost her shoes (not to mention her mother) on the first day, saved herself; the other survivors took the same eleven days to sit down and die” (Gonzales 326). When the plane crashed, Juliane decided to go look for help and survived while the others decided to stay and wait for help. They all died. She could’ve tried to save them, but it would have cost her her life. Another example of people who waited to be saved can be seen in 9-11. Many died because rescue personnel couldn’t get to them. People could’ve lived if they just took action instead of waiting for help. Laurence Gonzales said, “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). If people had been selfish and gotten out, more people could’ve survived.
If you don’t care about what happens to you, apathy will kill you faster than anything else. In Deep Survival, Ronald DiFrancesco was able to survive 9-11 because he cared about himself and wanted to live. Laurence Gonzales said “DiFrancesco, too, was collapsing, but then he said to himself,’ “I’ve got to see my wife and kids again’” (Gonzales 332) If he gave up like the rest of the people, he would’ve died, too, but he didn’t. He kept going to survive. Another example is when some people are prepared and have everything they need to survive, and they still die because they give in to apathy and waited for someone to come rescue them. Laurence Gonzales said “Conversely, searchers are always amazed to find people who have died while in possession of everything they needed to survive” (Gonzales 327). The people died because they didn’t care to live and just sat there waiting for help even though they had everything to survive for days. They didn’t even touch them. If they were selfish, they could’ve lived, too.
Some people argue that survival isn’t selfish because some people save themselves because they are thinking about how much their family would miss them if they didn't make it out alive. This is wrong because that doesn’t mean survival isn’t selfish. These people survived because they don’t care about the other people who are also in their situation. Di Francesco was able to get out by pushing people out of his way while thinking about his family. So, it’s obvious that survival is selfish.
Because most people survive by not waiting for someone to save them and if you don’t care about what happens to you, apathy will kill you faster than anything else, survival is selfish. In the article Deep Survival, Juliane survived because she acted by herself, to save herself and the rest of the people died because they waited for people to come rescue them. Ronald DiFrancesco was able to survive 9-11 because he cared about himself and wanted to live. So, is survival selfish? My opinion is survival is that selfish because if you aren’t selfish and don’t care about yourself in a survival situation, you will probably end up dead.
Works Cited
Wallace, Lane. “Is Survival Selfish?” Collections, Edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 317-320.
Gonzales, Laurence. “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.
I had to read about the articles first and after I read through them I got notes taken from there we discussed with friends about what we think if survival is selfish or not. From there I started writing down why I think Survival is selfish.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
We had to discuss about why we think survival is selfish or not selfish I gave me two best points on why I think survival is selfish. Had to discuss a topic and give points about what you think of it.
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?
The quotes I choose were good to claim my point on why I think survival is selfish and what it did for my paper is it helped me prove my point.