Bryanna Krieger Ms. Lehmann English 1-1A 15 November 2018 Survival Is Not Selfish Do you think survival is selfish? People have debated about this very question for years. This essay will argue that survival is not selfish, which is proven by Louise Erdrich, Laurence Gonzales, and Lane Wallace. The first to show survival is not selfish is Louise Erdrich. Erdrich’s short story “The Leap” provides many examples of situations in which survival is not selfish. The narrator explains that her mother was in a blindfolded trapeze act and the tent was struck by lightning in the middle of the show. Her husband fell and died, but the narrator’s mother saved her baby and herself. Later, the narrator says, “My mother once said that I’d be amazed at how many things a person can do within the act of falling” (Erdrich 342). This proves that the mother had time to think, and she chose to save her baby instead of falling with her husband. By thinking of her child first, she also saved herself. Later in the story, Erdrich gives another example like this one. Erdrich talks about the mother, but this time she is risks her life by saving her daughter from a burning building. “‘I didn’t see her leap through the air, only heard the sudden thump and looked out my window. She was hanging by the backs of her heels from the new gutter” (Erdrich 345-346). This decision saved both herself and her daughter. Erdrich proves that survival is not selfish by telling us about this mother and her decision to save her daughter. Both scenarios prove that people don’t have to be selfish to survive. Laurence Gonzales provides even more evidence. In the essay “Deep Survival”, by Gonzales, the author proves survival is not selfish. He also provides some statements about why survival is not selfish. One of them is about a man who is helping a group of pilots and shows them how to survive but ends up needing to teach them that they all have work together, or they could die. Kearns, the pilot says, “‘All at once, it hit me that I might actual loose them. Those million-dollar pilots could die.’” (Gonzales 331). This gives him the idea that he needs to work with the group help them to survive. Gonzales also discusses Doctors and nurses. He says, “Doctors and nurses often survive better than others because they have someone to help” (Gonzales 332). This shows that people who think of others have a higher rates of survival because they are focused on saving others. Another author who proves survival is not selfish is Lane Wallace. In Lane Wallace’s article “Is Survival Selfish,” there are many examples of why survival is not selfish. Wallace’s first example is about the captain of the Titanic. He writes “Ismay said he’d already helped many women and children into lifeboats and only climbed in one himself when there were no other women or children in the area and the boat was ready to release. (Wallace 317). He made sure he could get all the women and children that he could see before he saved himself. Wallace argues that people aren’t selfish in survival situations; they simply follow their instinct. Wallace explains, “Some people hold it together in a crisis and some fall apart. Some people might run away from danger one day, and toward it the next” (Wallace 320). Wallace is making the point that people respond in different ways to survival situations. He makes it clear here that survival is simply a matter of instinct, rather than any kind of intentional decisions to be selfish or brave. Being selfish requires intention; and therefore it cannot be selfish. Some argue that survival is selfish because people say people have time to think before they act. People who think in those situations usually think of another person. In Erdrich’s story, when the woman was on the trapeze and her husband was falling to his death, she realized what was happening, and decided to turn around and save her unborn child instead of dying with her husband. The short story “The Leap,” the essay “Deep Survival,” and the article “Is Survival Selfish” all prove that surviving isn’t selfish. Erdrich give an example about a woman who tried saved her unborn baby instead of dying with her husband. Gonzales talks about the pilots and how they worked together to survive. Wallace talks about how the captain of the Titanic and a man who saved as many people as he could before he got off the boat. After examining all of the evidence, it’s clear that survival is not selfish. Works Cited Erdrich, Louise. “The Leap.” Collections, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp.#339-246. 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.
Argumentative 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? You have to pay attention to what you type.
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? To re say things to have better grammar.
3. What are the conventions of an argumentative essay and how did you meet those in this assignment? to prove the other side is wrong. I used facts.
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it. I would use more facts and use people who agree with my side.
5. What is one thing you’re proud of in this paper? The effort I put into it.