Preview

Elephants Console Each Other By Virginia Morell Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
595 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Elephants Console Each Other By Virginia Morell Summary
Scientists have been wondering if elephants could feel emotions. In the three articles, “Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk,” by Virginia Morell, “Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk in a Cooperative Task” by Joshua Plotnik and, “Elephants Console Each Other,” by Virginia Morell. All of the authors used information to get their message across and to explain the author's purpose. In the first passage, “Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk,” by Virginia Morell, Virginia used information to inform you about what scientists are finding out about elephants. Some of the information she provided was, “The study ‘adds to the growing body of evidence that elephants show some impressive cognitive abilities.’” This excerpt can help relate to the author's purpose of wanting to inform you about these elephants and tell you about their newly-found intelligence. Another quote that can relate to the author's purpose is, “That shows the elephants understood why the partner was needed he adds.” This piece of evidence also shows that the author wants to teach you about the elephants emotions and habits towards others in distress. Lastly, the passage states, “To find out if the …show more content…
Such as when the article states, ”But during the day, the elephants were left alone to roam and graze at will.” This evidence reveals that the scientists care for the elephants and let them have time to roam around and do stuff on their free will, showing you that this is not a bad thing for the elephants. Lastly, the text states, “It would not be ethical to intentionally create stressful situations for the animals as a test, she notes…” This excerpt also shows how the scientist want to persuade you that they can learn more elephants by using creating tasks without harming the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In our discussion on Friday, no one else read the book so I was stuck trying to piece together what they knew, what happened in the book, and how to write a decent report on what has happened so far. So far in the book, we read about Jacob living in the retirement home and coming in contact with a fellow who claims he carried water for elephants. Elderly Jacob flashes back to when he was twenty-three. His parents had just died in a car accident; he skipped out on his veterinarian final exam, and hops a train out of Norwich in hopes of finding work somewhere new. The train is for the “Benzini Brother’s Most Spectacular Show on Earth”. He joins the circus, does a variety of petty jobs until he lands in the circus…

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Martin Buber once said, “an animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language”. As the years go by, numerous animals are becoming extinct by man’s lack of compassion. They used to roam freely, without fear, in the wild, although; with rising population, the wilderness is no longer their home. Therefore, the animals are forced to share their land with uncompassionate humans. One example is the Borneo Pygmy Elephant found in Southeast Asia. Their thriving population has diminished to less than 1,500 in the past years. An analysis of the endangered Borneo Pygmy Elephant shows their characteristics and habitat, what is threatening them, and how they can be saved.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sarah Gruen’s Water for Elephants is an account of ninety-something year old Jacob Jankowski’s life, both in the present day, where he resides in a nursing home, unhappy with his living conditions and the old age that has robbed him of his freedom, and through flashbacks of when he was young, traveling with the circus. Just a few days away from getting his veterinary degree from Cornell University, Jacob’s mother and father were suddenly killed in an automobile accident, sending Jacob’s life spiraling out of control; with his parents’ debt having left him with no home and no money, he hops aboard a circus train for the “Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth,”…

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author gives several specific examples throughout the article of animal abuse which he then follows with the corresponding consequences of these actions and the lack of implementation by the USDA in these incidents. The author writes in this specific order to create an emotional response from the audience by first making the reader remorseful for the animals explaining how they were brutally treated. He then describes how there were no consequences for these actions which consequently causes the reader to feel outraged and more likely to side with…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I decided to take a chance on Sara Gruen’s novel Water for Elephants, after reading the rave reviews of the book posted on several social media sites by friends and acquaintances. The truth is, it is summer and I am desperate for a distraction away from my recent obsession with Grey’s Anatomy reruns fueled by Netflix’s instant queue. So I purchased the book and slowly began retreating from my computer screen that stole 42 minutes of my day as I sat captivated by Dr. Owen Hunt’s passionate kissing. Moreover, my favorite animals are elephants, so from the title I was intrigued.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The words “family” and “families” are used for a total of 12 instances, while “herd” and “herds” total 15 instances. The constant, near interchangeable use of “family” and “herd” to refer to elephants and their pack is a deliberate linguistic choice that Siebert makes to psychologically prime a reader to associate the humane feelings they subconsciously attach to the word “family” with the term “herd” that is used for a pack of elephants. This is the use of pathos. Consequently, the linguistic choices help Siebert to establish a link between the reader and the subject of the article, the elephants.…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    PETA, or people for the ethical treatment of animals, begins their argument with many facts from studies proving that they have credible information. Unfortunately, the information they present throughout the article does not effectively support that animal testing is in fact bad science. Within the piece there are points and counterpoints which contradict each other thus throwing off the overall effectiveness. These points may confuse the reader with…

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Elephant is the emotional side and Rider is the cognitive side, and in most circumstances, during a disagreement, the Elephant tends to overpower the Rider. One example is skipping the gym. In otherwise the Elephant is responsible when somebody fails to change because emotions suppress the ability to intelligently reason. No doubt, the Elephant is capable of immense strengths such as someone getting things done while on the other hand, the Rider ruminates in situations like decision-making. Thus, changing behavior, with ease requires appealing to both the Elephant for energy and Rider for a sense of…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Instead of considering the lives of the animals, human lives are taken into precedence. They have "forced themselves to believe that animal testing is the only forward for medical research"(157). The researchers are almost thoughtless to other means and other possibilities to discover new drugs and vaccines. Goodall challenges the usage of animals even though advances in technology can substitute for them. The need of animals as subjects would be lessened. Yet, the researchers beliefs are almost written in stone into their minds. Even if the beliefs may be ethically right or ethically wrong. The alternatives to testing are not being explored…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A young Michael Byers in great detail states that “The stuffed African elephant on its circular dais in the rotunda was composed of billions of skin cells and tiny cilia, and its ivory tusks wore an unfalsifiable brown patina of age.” (73) Young Michael Byers uses very descriptive words to share his admiration with us. How amazing is what he is witnessing, the elephant is really old and the brown patina stands as proof of its age. But as an adult he merely says that “There were ten million African elephants in 1930, and that now there are only thirty-five thousand” they were once great but know they are almost gone.…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Do elephants cry? Of course they do, because they care about each other. A mother elephant will shield her calf from vicious predators and the hot sun, guiding it underneath herself. If there’s an obstacle in their path, a mother will carry her child over it, when a dust storm hits, she will personally bathe her precious baby. Just like humans, elephants create deep emotional bonds between their families and herds. Except, humans are a little better at expressing their feelings. We care for our loved ones in many ways, but most everyone has different ways of showing it.…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “ Elephants will often stand next to their dead kin for days, occasionally touching their bodies with their trunks.” Rifkin states that feeling grief is the main difference between being an animal and a human. They argue about animals…

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Darwin, Charles, and Paul Ekman. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. 174-367.…

    • 2338 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Animal Testing Ethics

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Animals are usually confined to small cages and being exposed to harmful fumes for human benefit.In their “Animal” Journal, Elisabeth H. Ormandy and Catherine Schuppli claim that "the use of animals in research fosters a diverse range of attitudes, with some people expressing the desire for complete abolition of animal research practices, while others express strong support (392)." Animal testing has stirred up an argument between two opposing sides regarding the ethics of the practice. The two opposing sides are those who disagree with animal testing and those who agree with animal testing. Nuno Henrique Franco author of "Animal Experiments in Biomedical Research: A Historical Perspective" state that "Animal experimentation has played a central role in biomedical research throughout history. For centuries, however, it has also been an issue of heated public and philosophical discussion."(238) Those who are in favor of animal testing believe that it is beneficial to improving medicine. Those who are against animal testing believe that it is harmful to animals and that their are other ways to benefit humans. Being an animal lover, I oppose of animal testing for several different reasons. The first reason being animals are being subjected to all forms of suffering and isolation. The second reason is animals are not…

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In “An Elephant Crackup?”, Charles Siebert partly attributes the belligerence of the recent generations of elephants, the animals considered to be among the most intelligently advanced, to the lack of a matriarch, a powerful female figure. He takes an example of the case of the last elephant survivors at Queen Elizabeth National Park, where the elderly female elephant was the one who “gathered the survivors together from their various hideouts”, “led them back out as one group”, and “held the group together [as] the population all the while slowly beginning to rebound” (Siebert 358). The idea that the sustainability of the group is dependent on its leading female is rather surprising, in the sense that in the wilderness, where the determination of roles among the members of the herds is largely, or even solely, influenced by physical ability, it would be more logical that the males are in control. Surprisingly, there are several researches that prove the opposite, that despite lacking physical advantage, female leaders are vital to the behavior and existence of the group itself. This phenomenon is not only interesting, but also very useful and fundamental to the effort of improving the aggression of the elephants, and through that, the relationship between elephants and humans. Also, there are certain ways that the “political” and social order of the matriarchal societies in elephant can be held accountable for the sake of this process.…

    • 1713 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays