Blog #1 - Oliver Hamlin

     As opposed to speaking, writing is much more complicated when choosing the correct voice for catering to an audience. When speaking to someone, whether it be a friend, professor, family member, etc., what you say and how you express your ideas is in a state of flux as you read the person's body language and hear an audible response from the audience you are communicating to. With writing, there is no immediate feedback. The part of the writing process that makes me the most anxious is catering, in the best way possible, to the audience I am writing to.

     Up until now, I have never had the opportunity to write freely without critique. I have always written for a critic, such as a teacher. Theoretically, English teachers are mandated to critique and grade students on the structure, vocabulary, style, and substance of the writing without letting personal biases interfere with the process. However, in my experience, the contrary stands true. High school has taught me that reading into a teacher's personal interests and stances on controversial subjects, such as politics and religion, can be beneficial when writing under their critique. Accommodating to these biases in my writing may conflict with my own beliefs, but the benefits of seeing "90" or above next to my name on a spreadsheet succeed the drawbacks of not having put my own, true conflicting ideas in my writing. When accomplishing this task, the teacher is almost guaranteed to be appeased, and the grade I receive reflects that.

     In a system where graded assignments and exams essentially determine the future of a student, getting the A on an English essay, or any other writing assignment, becomes a primary objective. Us students are told the importance of voice and tone in our writing, but are veiled from the dark presence of teacher bias. I have learned, time and time again, that this presence is much larger than most think. Discreetly mastering the art of bias catering means indefinite success in writing, in the eyes of critique.