Morell Elephant And Plotnik Summary

Before reading the articles written by Morell and Plotnik, I thought chimpanzees were the smartest animals. Although these authors have different purposes for writing, they both can help us understand how elephants truly behave. Morell taught her readers that elephants are smarter and more compassionate than they may seem. In the article Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk, Morell makes her ideas clear by saying the elephants tried to pull a rope alone and couldn't get the treat until they worked together. In school, students can be confused easy and often rely on their peers to help them understand the topic. By stating this, Morell tells her readers that elephants can pick up on things just as humans can. She tries to help her reader understand that elephants need each other just as humans do. "Elephants do indeed get distressed when they see others in trouble,” Morell explained in her article Elephants Console Each Other. This explains how elephants hate seeing others in trouble which is a sign of compassion.
Plotnik shows us this by conducting an experiment. In the article Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk in a Cooperative Task Plotnik explains that a trainer taught the elephants how to pull a rope. This is similar to a trainer teaching a human. The elephants become more intelligent about the topic like humans would. Plotnik gave an example of the elephants listening to simple commands and being able to understand them. This shows that elephants learn the same way as small children can. Elephants can become just as smart as humans by learning these simple