Edwin Damian
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-1A
4 December 2019
Survival is not Selfish
Do you believe people must be selfish in order to survive? This is the central question of this essay. Survival does not require people to behave selfishly because people who survive because they keep a cool head, not because they are selfish, and people need a reason to survive; this is often thinking of others and the loss they would suffer were they to die. Most survival stories prove that helping other people keeps people calm in a crisis.
If people do not keep a cool head, they often times die. Helping other people keeps people calm in a crisis where others can’t help themselves. Gonzales writes, “Helping someone else is the best way to ensure your own survival” (Gonzales 331). This proves that survival is not selfish because saving someone and assuring their survival gives you energy to keep going. Another example that supports this is the fact that having a positive mental attitude is the number one thing that defines whether a person survives or dies. Gonzales explains that being positive saves lives. “And seeing how your leadership and skill buoy others up gives you more focus and energy to persevere,’’ (Gonzales 331). This is unrelated to looking after yourself first. Not only do people who survive live because they keep a cool head, but people need a reason to survive; this is often thinking of others.
People need a reason to survive; what better reason than those you love? People who survive often say that they did so for someone else. Gonzales writes, “Many people who survive alone report that they were doing it for someone else (a wife, boyfriend, mother, son) back home” (Gonzales 332). When you help someone, you give yourself another reason to survive and you have another person to take care of and that gives you energy to survive by helping other people. “When Ronald DiFrancesco survived the World Trade Center attack, he says it was the thought of his family that saved his life, 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). When someone cares about someone and the thought of losing them and never seeing them again pushes the person to survive. Although it’s clear that survival is not selfish, not everyone agrees.
Some people argue that people can’t count on other people to save them. So, they need to be selfish to be able to survive, I disagree with that because people need to help each other in order to survive. Doctors have a higher chance of surviving than other people because they have experience and training and their goal is saving others. But when people have the chance to help other people and they don’t because they care only for themselves and no one else because they don’t want to die, that is when they are selfish. They also don’t guarantee their own survival by being that way. So, it’s obvious that survival is not selfish.
Because people who survive live because they keep a cool head, not because they are selfish, and people need a reason to survive; survival is not selfish. When people help other, they non likely to live. Doctors have a higher chance of surviving than other people because they have experience and training, and their job is saving other people. So, is survival selfish? Obviously not.
Gonzales Laurence. Deep Survival. Collections, edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflen 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 read four story's and to build my argument of survival is not selfish.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
A big argument is a rebuttal, how we got the information and why i was arguing that survival is not selfish.
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?
“Many people who survive alone report that they were doing it for someone else (a wife, boyfriend, mother, son) back home” (Gonzales 332). I choose this quote because some people get the strength of thinking of their loved ones and people close to them.
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-1A
4 December 2019
Survival is not Selfish
Do you believe people must be selfish in order to survive? This is the central question of this essay. Survival does not require people to behave selfishly because people who survive because they keep a cool head, not because they are selfish, and people need a reason to survive; this is often thinking of others and the loss they would suffer were they to die. Most survival stories prove that helping other people keeps people calm in a crisis.
If people do not keep a cool head, they often times die. Helping other people keeps people calm in a crisis where others can’t help themselves. Gonzales writes, “Helping someone else is the best way to ensure your own survival” (Gonzales 331). This proves that survival is not selfish because saving someone and assuring their survival gives you energy to keep going. Another example that supports this is the fact that having a positive mental attitude is the number one thing that defines whether a person survives or dies. Gonzales explains that being positive saves lives. “And seeing how your leadership and skill buoy others up gives you more focus and energy to persevere,’’ (Gonzales 331). This is unrelated to looking after yourself first. Not only do people who survive live because they keep a cool head, but people need a reason to survive; this is often thinking of others.
People need a reason to survive; what better reason than those you love? People who survive often say that they did so for someone else. Gonzales writes, “Many people who survive alone report that they were doing it for someone else (a wife, boyfriend, mother, son) back home” (Gonzales 332). When you help someone, you give yourself another reason to survive and you have another person to take care of and that gives you energy to survive by helping other people. “When Ronald DiFrancesco survived the World Trade Center attack, he says it was the thought of his family that saved his life, 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). When someone cares about someone and the thought of losing them and never seeing them again pushes the person to survive. Although it’s clear that survival is not selfish, not everyone agrees.
Some people argue that people can’t count on other people to save them. So, they need to be selfish to be able to survive, I disagree with that because people need to help each other in order to survive. Doctors have a higher chance of surviving than other people because they have experience and training and their goal is saving others. But when people have the chance to help other people and they don’t because they care only for themselves and no one else because they don’t want to die, that is when they are selfish. They also don’t guarantee their own survival by being that way. So, it’s obvious that survival is not selfish.
Because people who survive live because they keep a cool head, not because they are selfish, and people need a reason to survive; survival is not selfish. When people help other, they non likely to live. Doctors have a higher chance of surviving than other people because they have experience and training, and their job is saving other people. So, is survival selfish? Obviously not.
Gonzales Laurence. Deep Survival. Collections, edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflen 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 read four story's and to build my argument of survival is not selfish.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
A big argument is a rebuttal, how we got the information and why i was arguing that survival is not selfish.
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?
“Many people who survive alone report that they were doing it for someone else (a wife, boyfriend, mother, son) back home” (Gonzales 332). I choose this quote because some people get the strength of thinking of their loved ones and people close to them.