Braden Buschhorn
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
3 December 2019
Survival. Selfish or No?
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 rely on other people to save them, and people shouldn’t assume that they are capable of saving others. There are many examples that many survivors save themselves because other people couldn’t save them.
People can’t rely on other people to save them. In the article “Is Survival Selfish,” Wallace speaks about the Titanic. "One of the few men to survive the tragedy was J. Bruce Ismay, … 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). Ismay got on a lifeboat when women and children were still on the sinling boat. He didn’t save them but cared about himself. Ismay didn’t trust that the other boats were going to get there, and he saved himself. Another example of why people shouldn’t rely on others to save them can be found in Deep Survival. During 9-11, people waited to be rescued by the firefighters instead of saving themselves. "Many people who were used to following the rules died because they did what they were told by authority figures” (Gonzales 327). The people that followed the rules of staying put when lost or in danger died. This people can’t rely on others to save them. Not only should people not rely on others to save themselves, but also, they shouldn’t assume that they are capable of saving others.
People shouldn’t assume that they are capable of saving others. One example is out of the article “Is Survival Selfish” A woman got into a plane crash. “People were frozen or screaming, but nobody was moving toward the emergency exits, even as smoke began to fill the cabin. 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 only survived because she knew her limits and didn’t try to save the others. Another example of someone who realized that there was nothing to do to save someone else can be found in the article “Is Survival Selfish.” Yates was stuck in a horrible blizzard while climbing a mountain with his friend. His friend and him were connected by a rope and his friend fell about 30 feet down. Yates was just hanging there and there was nothing he could do to save his friend. “Yates, unable to lift him up and losing his own grip on the mountain, ended up cutting the rope to his friend to save himself” (Wallace 319). Yates had to let go of his friend or they both might have died. He had to be selfish to survive.
Although it’s clear that survival is selfish, there are those who disagree. Some people argue that the key to survival is having purpose in a crisis; caring for others gives people purpose. The truth is, some people are more scared of death than anything else. On the Titanic, when Ismay got on the lifeboat with women and children still on the boat, he didn’t want to die, so he got on the boat and lived. Ultimately, the evidence is overwhelming that survival is selfish.
People do have to be selfish because people can’t rely on other people to save them and people shouldn’t assume that they are capable of saving others. I think people can’t rely on other people to save them because if they rely on others, they are more likely thinking about to die. People shouldn’t assume that they are capable of saving others because they could die trying to save them. Is survival selfish? Yes. Page Break
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. Collection, 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.
We had to read like four articles. We then did a argument against our class mates if survival is or isn't selfish.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
It's arguing that survival is selfish. The requirements are that you need two topics to argue about and to have evidence.
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 found the first one by reading "Is Survival Selfish." Then I chose it to use it helped out my paper because it talks about a dude being selfish to survive the Titanic.
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
3 December 2019
Survival. Selfish or No?
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 rely on other people to save them, and people shouldn’t assume that they are capable of saving others. There are many examples that many survivors save themselves because other people couldn’t save them.
People can’t rely on other people to save them. In the article “Is Survival Selfish,” Wallace speaks about the Titanic. "One of the few men to survive the tragedy was J. Bruce Ismay, … 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). Ismay got on a lifeboat when women and children were still on the sinling boat. He didn’t save them but cared about himself. Ismay didn’t trust that the other boats were going to get there, and he saved himself. Another example of why people shouldn’t rely on others to save them can be found in Deep Survival. During 9-11, people waited to be rescued by the firefighters instead of saving themselves. "Many people who were used to following the rules died because they did what they were told by authority figures” (Gonzales 327). The people that followed the rules of staying put when lost or in danger died. This people can’t rely on others to save them. Not only should people not rely on others to save themselves, but also, they shouldn’t assume that they are capable of saving others.
People shouldn’t assume that they are capable of saving others. One example is out of the article “Is Survival Selfish” A woman got into a plane crash. “People were frozen or screaming, but nobody was moving toward the emergency exits, even as smoke began to fill the cabin. 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 only survived because she knew her limits and didn’t try to save the others. Another example of someone who realized that there was nothing to do to save someone else can be found in the article “Is Survival Selfish.” Yates was stuck in a horrible blizzard while climbing a mountain with his friend. His friend and him were connected by a rope and his friend fell about 30 feet down. Yates was just hanging there and there was nothing he could do to save his friend. “Yates, unable to lift him up and losing his own grip on the mountain, ended up cutting the rope to his friend to save himself” (Wallace 319). Yates had to let go of his friend or they both might have died. He had to be selfish to survive.
Although it’s clear that survival is selfish, there are those who disagree. Some people argue that the key to survival is having purpose in a crisis; caring for others gives people purpose. The truth is, some people are more scared of death than anything else. On the Titanic, when Ismay got on the lifeboat with women and children still on the boat, he didn’t want to die, so he got on the boat and lived. Ultimately, the evidence is overwhelming that survival is selfish.
People do have to be selfish because people can’t rely on other people to save them and people shouldn’t assume that they are capable of saving others. I think people can’t rely on other people to save them because if they rely on others, they are more likely thinking about to die. People shouldn’t assume that they are capable of saving others because they could die trying to save them. Is survival selfish? Yes. Page Break
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. Collection, 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.
- Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific.
We had to read like four articles. We then did a argument against our class mates if survival is or isn't selfish.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
It's arguing that survival is selfish. The requirements are that you need two topics to argue about and to have evidence.
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 found the first one by reading "Is Survival Selfish." Then I chose it to use it helped out my paper because it talks about a dude being selfish to survive the Titanic.