Writing a College Essay on Alcohol and Anger

Alcohol has been a social issue for thousands of years - just ask Noah's unfortunate sons - and all aspects of it are widely discussed by politicians, medical professionals and the media. Some societies have banned alcohol entirely - many Muslim countries, and in one disastrous experiment the USA - while others have demonized one form of alcohol - gin in 18th century England, for example - while at the same time promoting another as healthy; beer, again in 18th century England. Alcohol has also appeared in many works of fiction, from James Bond elegantly sipping a Martini to drunken men brawling in bars. The last, of course, brings us to the point of this discussion - writing an essay on alcohol and anger.

The link between alcohol and anger is a simple one. Many anger management specialists use slogans like "Alcohol and anger don't mix," but unfortunately it's very hard to keep them separate. One well-known effect of alcohol is that it reduces inhibitions - the social constraints that tell us not to do certain things. Another is that it make drinkers more emotional. This might be amusing when it's the common act of "bezzering" - one drunk hanging off another's shoulder and slurring, "You're by bes' frien' in the whole world ever" - but it's not so funny when tempers start to rise. With inhibitions removed, drunken arguments turn violent very easily; in some cities the police estimate that over half of violent crimes are committed by people who've been drinking.

When writing an essay at college level you'll probably want to look at the topic in some detail. At least a basic explanation of how alcohol affects the brain will be useful; for some essays it may be appropriate to give more detail on this. For crime statistics you'll need the most recent and detailed figures you can find for your selected area.

At this level of study sources need to be carefully chosen for suitability. Advocacy groups - and even medical associations like the AMA - are really only good as a source for what the group's agenda is. For hard facts stick to reputable research papers; these can be easily found on PubMed. Crime data should always be taken from official government sites, which are usually easy to find too.

With some research and a good writing plan, an informative and interesting essay can be written on this subject. Just remember to work in this order:

• Plan - Be clear on exactly what you want to write.
• Research - Collect all the information required for your planned essay.
• Outline - Write up a rough outline, making notes of everything you want to include in each section.
• Write - If you've done all the previous steps properly, this is the easy bit!