TOW #22 (TEXT)- The Lost Art of the Unsent Angry Letter By Maria Konnikova

What do people do when they get angry? Throw a tantrum? Punch a wall? Tweet about it? In generations before, people wrote what they called, "hot letters" in which a person would release their anger into paper and then throw it away. In The Lost Art of the Unsent Angry Letter by Maria Konnikova, the author discusses the downfalls of "subtweeting" and how today's generation is not able to release their anger adequately. By using chronological comparisons, as well as personal anecdotes, Konnikova is able to shed light on the fact that today's generation lacks a pressure release valve for anger. Konnikova starts her article off by referring to how past leaders like Abraham Lincoln, and Mark Twain used to deal with their anger. She describes how these "hot letters" helped such great leaders cope with pressure, deal with their anger, and therefore become better leaders in their respective fields. Konnikova, after establishing the positive effects of writing down one's anger, then shifts to our current generation. She writes about how in our current generation, people rather tweet about their feelings, and thus aren't releasing their anger in the right way. Since tweeting is for all to see, anger isn't able to be thrown away, but rather it lingers on the internet. Konnikova's comparison between the past and the present allow the reader to see that there is clearly a problem with our generation. Through logical comparison, Konnikova effectively convinces the reader that there is a problem, thus forwarding her purpose. In addition to comparing the past to the present, Konnikova uses personal anecdotes to exemplify how someone today should cope with their feelings. Being that Konnikova is aware of the problems with tweeting she writes that instead she uses the, "'track changes' feature in Microsoft Word for writing retorts to suggested editorial changes. I then cool off and promptly delete the comments — and, usually, make the changes." By showing how someone can use digital "hot letters" instead of tweeting about something, Konnikova allows for her readers to see a  proper way to deal with anger. Overall, I thought this article was well written, and makes me think about all of the "subtweeting" that goes on Twitter. I now think that I should try to control my anger, and possibly use a "hot letter" next time I get angry.