Gonzales Deep Survival

Laurence Gonzales in his essay, Deep Survival, argues that in order to survive in a tough situation, one must be adaptive and quick thinking. He says that in order to make it out alive a survivor has to take charge and want to survive. This argument appears to be pretty simple, but when it is analyzed and dug into multiple layers of meaning seem to emerge. It is not only useful for survival within the wilderness because Laurence Gonzales states that survival may “apply to more than just hiking in the woods.” During his intense research on the subject, Gonzales realized that these survival tactics could be widely used in everyday life. By quoting many other professionals and studies, the author’s argument is simple, easily understood, and exceptionally

For example, Gonzales starts off his chapters by telling stories he feels satisfies the arguments he will further develop later on. The stories he uses directly correlate back to the main point he tries to make, allowing for the reader to be at ease; if the essay was all scientific jargon or facts the reader may get bored or too confused. But with the personal anecdotes and tales of survival the reader feels more engaged. Over the course of the essay, Gonzales mentions the stories where they apply again. This helps the reader to think back on the events of the story. World Heritage Encyclopedia calls this technique graduated interval recall. This is defined as “a learning technique that incorporates increasing intervals of time between subsequent review of previously learned material in order to exploit the psychological spacing effect.” (Graduated Interval Recall.) Gonzales utilizes this tactic so that the reader will remember the stories when they are finished with the essay. He wants his argument to forever be embedded in the minds of his readers. However, this is an effective approach for his argument. Without knowing it, the reader is subconsciously making sense of his points whether they agree with them or