Kim Nguyen

Synthesis on Anger Draft

Anger is one of the many emotions that we feel throughout our lives. From what I have
experienced and from what I have seen, anger can solve problems or take a turn for the worst.
People use anger to relieve the stress they may feel relating to that issue, whether its letting
off steam or fighting for what they believe in. Anger can sometimes even lead to more than
what people intend for; people might go too far. For example, anger can lead to violence to
others or harming the ones inflicting it. Anger can be used when you are trying to express your
opinions for problems that may be unfair. You shouldnt use anger in a way that would cause
violence to others or would harm yourselves. There is a fine line between using anger to solve
problems and taking it too far. And that is when you are using your anger to hurt yourself or
others.
Anger does not just come out from anywhere; it is caused by those we associate with
and surround ourselves with. Every man is prone to the emotion that he is feeling. People are
angered more easily if they are expecting something in particular to happen; like something
that they wanted to happen. For example, wanting to go to a concert and getting all excited
about it, and then your mom doesnt let you go. Your anger fuels up more when you want
something to happen and not get it later. There are certain times, seasons, and conditions and
periods of life when people tend to become more easily angered (Aristotle). Based on this
quote, I can infer that anger is destructive to us. If we surround ourselves with people that
trigger the anger within us, then that is when anger is destructive. Anger is one emotion that
can be triggered by anything because it is influenced by those we surround ourselves with. If we
surround ourselves with people that can easily anger us, it will bring harm to those around us
and ourselves.
I would say that Barry agrees with Aristotle when he says, Our modern world has a lot
of rage and its normal for our environment. Barry also says, Theres nothing you can do
about it. Barrys argument ties in with Aristotles arguments on anger because hes saying that
we have a lot of anger in our world and theres nothing we can do about it. Its just the way that
we deal with all that rage and anger. Barry talks about road rage and how people deal with that
on a daily basis. He mentions how those situations could have been handled better if a person
would have just learned to control out anger and deal with it without harming anyone. This
would be destructive to us because of the way anger is prone to us. Anger is always there, yet it
can be triggered to cause harm to others and ourselves. With Barrys example of road rage, I
can infer that anger is destructive because it is triggered by the people we surround ourselves
with. We cant really control our anger, but the way that we interact with others can influence
our anger.
Barrecas arguments suggest that anger distorts everything or makes everything clearer,
depending on that persons perspective. When you experience anger, it may cloud your
judgment or cause you to misunderstand things. This distortion would trigger problems that
never existed in the first place, triggering anger to be felt. For example, when you misplace
something and you think that your sister took it. You go off on your sister, when its really your
fault. Misunderstandings would cause anger to arise more often. Based on Barrecas
arguments, I can infer that anger is destructive because the emotion distorts everything,
clouding our judgment, causing anger to rise more often, like a trigger. Anger can make us harm
others without us really knowing because we are so frustrated with the misunderstandings.
I think anger is more productive when a person is letting off steam in order to solve a
problem. Anger is more likely to arise when things are frustrating and you dont know how to
deal with it. A person can express their anger when they are also standing up for what they
believe in. In protests for important issues, people can express their anger because they know
that the issues being protested are what they strongly believe in. Sooner or later, theres bound
to be a change regarding the issue because so many people are standing up for it. Protesters
can argue their side and it gives the government time to rethink the issue.
Letting off steam is one way a person could express their anger and that is when it is
productive. Another way would be when someone might go too far and cause violence towards
themselves or others. A person shouldnt lean more towards being violent. It doesnt do any
good for anyone. Anger can be expressed if its for something they believe should be right or to
solve a problem, but it shouldnt be expressed if its going to cause harm to others and
themselves.







Works Cited
1. Barry Dave. Road Warrior. 100 Great Essays. Vol. 3. N.p.: Longman, n.d. 75-77. Print.
2. Barreca Regina. The Fires Within. Chicago Tribune 10 Sept. 1995: 1-3. Print.
3. Aristotle. Book II. Rhetoric. Trans. W. Rhys Roberts. New York: Modern Library, 1954.
N. pag. Internet Classics Archive. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.