Discussion

Introduction

Question 4 in your assignment asks you to write an article for the magazine Advice for Teens in which you discuss how best to deal with the urge to get even with someone.

When writing your article, you can get inspired by the three texts in your assignment. However, you should be mindful that you are addressing teenagers so you should use language and examples that appeal to them. As with any article, your text should include a title, an introductory paragraph, a main body where you detail the topic, and a conclusion.

In what follows, we will outline some of the ideas from the three assignment texts that you can use in your article and list a few others that could inspire you.

Text 1: “Revenge: Will You Feel Better?”

Text 1 in your assignment suggests that the best way to deal with the desire for revenge is not to act on it. Studies cited in the article suggests that people who act on the urge to get even don’t feel better and cannot even overcome the offense that made them want revenge in the first place: “The results showed that the students who got revenge reported feeling worse than those who didn’t…” (ll. 100-102); “But when people do get revenge, they can no longer trivialize the situation. Instead, they go over and over it and feel worse.” (ll. 121-124). In other words, getting revenge seems appealing when one feels betrayed or wronged, but putting revenge in practice does not take away the bad feelings. Quite the contrary, it makes it harder to overcome the feeling of being wronged by another.

This is why the text also recommends first trying to understand your emotions and their causes: “Knowledge about emotions and the thoughts that strengthen or soften those emotions can help people develop ways to better man...