Summary Of Road Warrior By Dave Berry

Reader response Journal #2

Dave Berry’s “Road Warrior”

The essay Road Warrior, written by Dave Berry expresses the road rages that everyone, or most people, face on a daily basis as well as a few other rages. He justifies how unnecessary these can be sometimes, and how they just lead to bad things (e.g. violence). The title is quite fitted for what the essay is about, additionally making you want to read the essay, as the title pulls you in.

What prompts him to write this essay, is from constantly having to deal with the same types of drivers that cause him to get angry, or rage. He was living in Miami whilst writing this, which is a city of a large population, with lots of traffic. The immediate audience targeted would be other drivers, as reading this would get his points out and maybe they’d stop doing certain things he mentioned. The secondary audience would be future drivers, as they would now know what they should maybe sometimes avoid doing. Like when he mentions “-the aggressive young male whose car has a sound system so powerful and the driver must go faster than the speed of sound at all times-”. Future drivers may read this and think twice about doing it.

The tertiary audience could be directed at anyone else who may face these same rages, people who don’t drive, or anyone interested in reading a bit of a rant.

The authors purpose in writing this was most likely to entertain while still informing at the same time.

It lets people know what many drivers find frustrating and what can be changed. At the same time, it’s also written in a very humorous and entertaining way that makes you want to continue reading. Dave states “So the tiny minority of us Miami drivers who actually qualify as normal find ourselves constantly being trapped behind people drifting along on the interstate at the speed of diseased livestock, while at the same time we are being tailgated and occasionally bumped behind from a testosterone deranged youths who got their driver training from watching the space fighter battle in Star Wars”. Thus supporting his thesis of road rage, and giving a few vivid examples of what causes him to

rage.

The author says “I see people get into their car, clearly ready to leave, so I stop my car and wait for them to vacate the spot, and...nothing happens! They just stay there! WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING IN THERE??!! COOKING DINNER??!!". This example appeals to logos because the reader might be able to related to this, meaning it would also appeal to their logistics. This also appeals pathos because the reader can sense some of the emotions he’s felt like the humor and frustration. The overall tone of this piece would be humorous, sarcastic, frustrated and playful. He often used humor and sarcasm in the same sentences in order for the reader to find the sentences funny and relatable, thus giving it an overall playful tone. Dave concludes the essay “My point is that there are many causes for rage in our modern world, and if we’re going to avoid unnecessary violence, we all need to “keep our cool”. So let’s try to be more considerate, OK? Otherwise I’ll kill you.” He is obviously being sarcastic about the last part, however this sentence does portray his sense of humor and also frustration at the same time.

“And of course nobody EVER signals or yields, and people are CONSTANTLY cutting us off, and AFTER A WHILE WE START TO FEEL SOME RAGE, OK? YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT, MISTER NEWS MEDIA OPINION-MAKER??”. In this sentence he used many capitals, which makes the reader read it in a louder, and angrier voice, and helps them feel his rage. You can clearly pick out his emotions he was most likely feeling at the time, worked up, frustrated, annoyed and more. He also asked a few questions in this, which addresses the reader allowing them to connect more as a reader-author.

The way he organizes his essay was very neat and simple. He would often list off numerous rages or causes in certain orders, while thoroughly explaining or describing each, so you would understand. He would use examples that he faces commonly and those would be quite relatable for certain readers. He started the essay in calmer and more cool manner than when he concluded in a tenser and playful tone. What I found remarkable about this essay was how relatable he made everything sound, I don’t even drive yet, but I can clearly tell (for the most part) what he was talking about.

What I found remarkable about this essay was how relatable he made many points. He used many different emotions to support all his points. Like when he would use capitals in certain sentences to express his frustration. As well as the fact that he was able to incorporate so much humour in all his anger and frustration. I really enjoyed reading this essay, and have come to learn about many future rages I will most likely get in the future.