Kalea Delgado Ms. Lehmann English 1-3 8 November 2018 Survival Is Selfish
Duke Ellington once said, “We cannot save the people who are important to us if we are dead.” Therefore, survival is selfish; authors Laurence Gonzales, Lane Wallace, and Elie Wiesel prove this in their stories. The first story, “Deep Survival,” by author Laurence Gonzales, has great stories about people who had to unearth the selfishness needed to survive. Laurence Gonzales provides many examples of scenarios in which survivors had to be selfish in “Deep Survival.” The author shows that many survivors only survive by being selfish. He tells the story of a 16-year-old girl who survived a plane crash, writing “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). The only reason the girl survived is because she went on by herself, leaving the others to die. The author gives another quote that shows survival is selfish. 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. Lane Wallace is another author who shows that survival is selfish. Lane Wallace, author of “Is Survival Selfish?”, argues that those who survive are often forced to put themselves first. 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 argues 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 also argues that sometimes you are not able to save others. Lane Wallace uses the story of a woman who saved herself from a plane crash. The other passengers were frozen, unmoving, and she crawled over them to safety. Wallace asks, “Could she really have saved the 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. The last author, Elie Wiesel, gives examples of how thinking about yourself will keep you alive. Wiesel gives many quotes that show that survival is selfish. His experience in Buchenwald concentration camp taught him a great deal about what it takes to survive. Wiesel wrote that the veterans in the camp had no sympathy for the other men. Wiesel writes, “The veterans told us: ‘You’re lucky’” (Wiesel 308). The veterans that had lived up to that moment had to be focused on themselves and not get attached to the others. In this quote, Wiesel wrote that he was only thinking of himself during a selection. Wiesel writes, “I had but one thought: not to have my number taken down and not to show my left arm.” (Wiesel 310). During the test to determine whether he lived or not, Wiesel was only thinking of himself. He was worried about how long his stamina would last. He wasn’t thinking of others. There is overwhelming evidence that selfishness is needed to survive. 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 must be alive to save others. You must think about yourself in order to live. Therefore, survival is selfish; authors Laurence Gonzales, Lane Wallace, and Elie Wiesel prove this in their stories. Laurence Gonzales supports this claim by briefly telling a story of how a 16-year-old girl survived a plane crash because she went off on her own, while the others stayed in the plane and died. Lane Wallace also told a story of a plane crash where a woman had to be selfish and climb over the frozen, unconscious people in order to save herself. She could have attempted to save them, but she also would have died along with the others. Elie Wiesel wrote about how he was thinking of himself during a test that determined whether he lived or died. Duke Ellington’s quote supports the authors’ evidence that people must survive for themselves to protect the people they love the most.
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 you should italicize titles of long stories and put smaller works in quotation marks. In my next papers I will italicize long stories and put smaller stories in quotation marks
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 put the title, “Survival Is Selfish?” in italics while I was supposed to put it in quotations. I revised this by putting it in quotations. I learned that you shouldn’t italicize short stories.
3. What are the conventions of an argumentative essay and how did you meet those in this assignment?
The conventions of an argumentative essay are the claim, evidence to support the claim and the rebuttal. I added in each of these conventions into my essay.
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
I would improve by taking more time on my conclusion and making sure I didn’t make any italicizing errors.
5. What is one thing you’re proud of in this paper?
I am proud of my whole paper overall. I thought I did well on wording and making sure everything flowed in the paper.