Jadon Johnson Ms. Lehmann English 1-3 8 November 2018 Survival Is Selfish Is survival selfish? In this argumentative essay, I will prove that survival is selfish. Authors Laurence Gonzales, Lane Wallace, and Elie Wiesel prove the necessity of selfishness for survival in their stories. Each story gives examples of survivors being selfish. Gonzales provides many examples of scenarios in which survivors had to be selfish in “Deep Survival.” Gonzales shows that many survivors are only able to survive because they are selfish, as in the case of Juliane. Juliane is a 17-year-old girl who survived a plane crash. Gonzales writes, “Tough and clear-headed, 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). The only reason the girl survived is because she went on by herself, leaving the others to die. Gonzales also 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. If this isn’t convincing enough, examine Lane Wallace’s work. Lane Wallace gives examples of people forced to be selfish to survive in “Is Survival 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 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. Lane Wallace gives another good example proving survival is selfish. Wallace uses the story of a woman who saved herself from a plane crash to show the necessity of selfishness in a survival situation. The other passengers were frozen, unmoving, and she crawled over them to safety. Wallace asks, “Could she really have saved others? Probably not...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. Wallace makes good points about survival being selfish,but Wiesel’s personal experience is even none compelling. Elie Wiesel provides examples of people being selfish in order to survive in Night. Wiesel shows that the people in Buchenwald concentration camp with him didn’t have a lot of sympathy. Wiesel writes, the veterans told us: “(you are lucky to have been brought here so late)” right after they get the news that there will be a selection (Wiesel 308). The veterans are distant because they don’t want to get emotionally attached to someone only to watch them die. Wiesel makes another point. Wiesel states that in order to survive the camp, he had to 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). Wiesel had to leave his father to die so he didn’t die. All three of these authors have good points that prove survival is selfish. 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 can only save others if they put themselves first. You have to be alive to help others. In conclusion, survival is selfish. Authors Laurence Gonzales, Lane Wallace, and Elie Wiesel prove this in their stories. Gonzales gives an example of a 17- year- old girl who survived a plane crash. Wallace says that saving others before yourself is foolish and being selfish is the smart thing to do. Wiesel explains that the people at the concentration camps didn’t have a lot of sympathy so that they wouldn’t get emotionally attached knowing that they will most likely die. This information proves that survival is selfish. Work 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 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 that writing this paper was actually pretty easy and maybe other Essays are that way as well.
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 finish a quote that I accidentally cut short. I went back in the book and found the quote and finished it. I learned to always double check quotes.
3. What are the conventions of an argumentative essay and how did you meet those in this assignment? The conventions of a summary are including the author, title, genre, and big idea in the first sentence of the summary. I did this in every summary paragraph. I also put the main points in chronological order because that is a convention, and I didn’t include any opinions. I did this in all of my summaries.
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it? I would've gotten more evidence for each side.
5. What is one thing you’re proud of in this paper? I am proud of the fact I wrote this paper all on my own.