Natalie Martinez
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-1A
4 December 2019
Is Survival Selfish
Do you believe people must be selfish in order to survive? This is the central question of this essay. Survival does require people to behave selfishly because people can’t count on other people to save them, and apathy will kill people faster than anything. Most survival stories prove that people can't count on other people to save them. People cannot expect others to save them in life threatening situations.
If people do count on others, they often die because they were waiting to be saved. During 9-1,1 people died because rescue personnel couldn't get to them. “An employee of the Aon Insurance Company on the ninety-third floor of the south tower had begun a general announcement that the building was safe and that people should stay inside until they were told to leave” (Gonzales, 327). If the employee would have left and not waited for people to come save him, he could have survived. This proves that survival is selfish. Another story that supports not relying on others to save themselves is Juliane. She survived the plane crash beause 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. “Tough and clearheaded, this teenage girl, who had lost her shoes (not to mention her mother) on the first day, saved herself; the others survivors took the same eleven days to sit down and die” (Gonzales, 327). Juliane was the only person on that plane to survive because she did not wait on others to come save her. Not only can people not count on other people to save them, apathy will kill faster than anything.
Apathy will kill people faster than anything, so people have to be selfish to survive. People who are prepared have died waiting for others to come and save them because they gave in to apathy. “Conversely, searchers are always amazed to find people who have died while in possession of everything they needed to survive” (Gonzales, 327). If people would not give into apathy, they would have much better chances of surviving. Not giving in and being selfish will help people survive. When Rondald DiFrancesco was attempting to escape the twin towers on 9-11, he only survived because he didn’t give in to apathy. “The people, all of whom would die, were just giving up and falling asleep. DiFrancesco, too, was collapsing, but then he said to himself, ‘I’ve got to see my wife and kids again.’ And with that, he got up and bolted down the stairs to safety” (Gonzales, 332). Because DiFrancesco did not give into apathy he was able to survive. Although it’s clear that survival is selfish, not everyone agrees.
Some people argue that the key to survival is having purpose in a crisis; caring for others gives people purpose. This is wrong because doctors and nurses are trained to save people. They go through high pressure moments to save people's lives, but if people are not trained, how can they know how to save someone and themselves? So, it’s obvious that survival is selfish.
Because people can’t count on other people to save them, and apathy will kill people faster than anything, people have to be selfish to survive. Juliane leaving the group to save herself and Di Francesco not giving into apathy both proved that people have to be selfish to survive. So, is survival selfish? Obviously.
Page Break
Works Cited Page
Gonzales, Laurence. “Deep survival”. Collections, edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack. 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.
we had to read "Deep survival" to know what the main idea was about, write about the most important parts, fix the revisions, and lastly type it all here.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
It had to be in a body paragraph and it had to have a hook and I did both of those things
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 chose the quote that I used because it went along with what I was writing about
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-1A
4 December 2019
Is Survival Selfish
Do you believe people must be selfish in order to survive? This is the central question of this essay. Survival does require people to behave selfishly because people can’t count on other people to save them, and apathy will kill people faster than anything. Most survival stories prove that people can't count on other people to save them. People cannot expect others to save them in life threatening situations.
If people do count on others, they often die because they were waiting to be saved. During 9-1,1 people died because rescue personnel couldn't get to them. “An employee of the Aon Insurance Company on the ninety-third floor of the south tower had begun a general announcement that the building was safe and that people should stay inside until they were told to leave” (Gonzales, 327). If the employee would have left and not waited for people to come save him, he could have survived. This proves that survival is selfish. Another story that supports not relying on others to save themselves is Juliane. She survived the plane crash beause 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. “Tough and clearheaded, this teenage girl, who had lost her shoes (not to mention her mother) on the first day, saved herself; the others survivors took the same eleven days to sit down and die” (Gonzales, 327). Juliane was the only person on that plane to survive because she did not wait on others to come save her. Not only can people not count on other people to save them, apathy will kill faster than anything.
Apathy will kill people faster than anything, so people have to be selfish to survive. People who are prepared have died waiting for others to come and save them because they gave in to apathy. “Conversely, searchers are always amazed to find people who have died while in possession of everything they needed to survive” (Gonzales, 327). If people would not give into apathy, they would have much better chances of surviving. Not giving in and being selfish will help people survive. When Rondald DiFrancesco was attempting to escape the twin towers on 9-11, he only survived because he didn’t give in to apathy. “The people, all of whom would die, were just giving up and falling asleep. DiFrancesco, too, was collapsing, but then he said to himself, ‘I’ve got to see my wife and kids again.’ And with that, he got up and bolted down the stairs to safety” (Gonzales, 332). Because DiFrancesco did not give into apathy he was able to survive. Although it’s clear that survival is selfish, not everyone agrees.
Some people argue that the key to survival is having purpose in a crisis; caring for others gives people purpose. This is wrong because doctors and nurses are trained to save people. They go through high pressure moments to save people's lives, but if people are not trained, how can they know how to save someone and themselves? So, it’s obvious that survival is selfish.
Because people can’t count on other people to save them, and apathy will kill people faster than anything, people have to be selfish to survive. Juliane leaving the group to save herself and Di Francesco not giving into apathy both proved that people have to be selfish to survive. So, is survival selfish? Obviously.
Page Break
Works Cited Page
Gonzales, Laurence. “Deep survival”. Collections, edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack. 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.
we had to read "Deep survival" to know what the main idea was about, write about the most important parts, fix the revisions, and lastly type it all here.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
It had to be in a body paragraph and it had to have a hook and I did both of those things
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 chose the quote that I used because it went along with what I was writing about