Essay Final Draft
Willett 1
Jasmine Willett
Mrs. Bond
Honors English 9
6 March 2015
Survival: What is the True Meaning?
What is “survival”? The state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances. After reading multiple texts over survival, the most important characteristics of survival are rationality, adaptability, and positive mental attitude.
The first characteristic for survival is being rational.This is important because, one needs to be able to make rational decisions. If one cannot make rational decisions then one will either hurt oneself or others. If one can not make good decisions then what is the point in surviving in the first place? As it says in the short story “Deep Survival” a 17 year old girl “didn’t spend time bemoaning her fate” (Gonzales 326). If she would have thought about her fate, she would not have been able to get to a hunter's cabin, and gotten help. Another example, in the short story
Night
brothers are talking and one says “Lets stay together; it will make us stronger” (Weisel
308). With this thought, they made a rational decision. They stuck together and made it through that selection. But thats not the only thing that can affect one's survival.
The second survival characteristic is having a positive mental attitude. If you do not have the will to survive then one's body will slowly shut down. And if one does not have a positive mental state, all one will be thinking is negative thoughts, and by the time one got to where they needed to go, they will have been half way dead. In the short story “Deep Survival” the 17 year old girl “had a plan the she believed in” (Gonzales 326). If she did not believe in her plan, then
Willett 2
she would have stayed with the others and died. Also in the short story
Night
some old men said
“You’re lucky to have been brought in here so late” (Weisel 308). If they thought differently then they would have done bad on
Jasmine Willett
Mrs. Bond
Honors English 9
6 March 2015
Survival: What is the True Meaning?
What is “survival”? The state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances. After reading multiple texts over survival, the most important characteristics of survival are rationality, adaptability, and positive mental attitude.
The first characteristic for survival is being rational.This is important because, one needs to be able to make rational decisions. If one cannot make rational decisions then one will either hurt oneself or others. If one can not make good decisions then what is the point in surviving in the first place? As it says in the short story “Deep Survival” a 17 year old girl “didn’t spend time bemoaning her fate” (Gonzales 326). If she would have thought about her fate, she would not have been able to get to a hunter's cabin, and gotten help. Another example, in the short story
Night
brothers are talking and one says “Lets stay together; it will make us stronger” (Weisel
308). With this thought, they made a rational decision. They stuck together and made it through that selection. But thats not the only thing that can affect one's survival.
The second survival characteristic is having a positive mental attitude. If you do not have the will to survive then one's body will slowly shut down. And if one does not have a positive mental state, all one will be thinking is negative thoughts, and by the time one got to where they needed to go, they will have been half way dead. In the short story “Deep Survival” the 17 year old girl “had a plan the she believed in” (Gonzales 326). If she did not believe in her plan, then
Willett 2
she would have stayed with the others and died. Also in the short story
Night
some old men said
“You’re lucky to have been brought in here so late” (Weisel 308). If they thought differently then they would have done bad on