The Lowest Animal Essay

Read the questions below carefully.  After you have entered your name (first name will do), your I.D. Number (issued to you when you signed up for the class) and your class number (also assigned to you when you signed up for the class), complete the essay portion in the large white box.  If you wish to start over, you can press the RESTART button.  If you are satisfied with your answers, press SUBMIT.  Feel free to answer the questions honestly, but make sure you provide a rationale for your argument.  If you are ready, begin by filling out the information below.

 

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While Twain talked about using "scientific proof", he probably did not.  However, he maintains that humans are the only animals that are cruel, stubborn, arrogant and self-righteous.  Do you agree?  Do you think that he meant all humans are cruel or that all humans have the capacity of being all of those things?  It could be argued that pride, vanity, and arrogance are the things that come with intelligence.  Do you agree with that statement?  If you answered "yes", do you think that there is a way to have a more intelligent animal and not have all of those negative characteristics?  Or do you think that they are permanently attached?  What, if anything, does Twain suggest to rectify the situation?  What do you recommend?  If you could ask Mark Twain a question, what would it be?  If you could tell him something, what would that be?  Why do you think Twain wrote this essay?  Do you think he believed his own argument?  Do you think that he thought that he descended from lower animals, or that he is immune from the situation?

    

 

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