After reading William Hazlitt’s, “On the Pleasure of Hating” and Marcus Aurelius’, “The Mediations (Book Two)”, I’ve realized that there are many different ways of expressing thought into text whether it is in a more casual voice or scholarly voice. The stylistic choices and voices of the two authors’ works are very different. However, I resonate more with Hazlitt’s way of putting his thoughts into his text because I had forgotten that it is okay to express your thoughts in a more casual and narrative tone as if you were speaking to your audience directly or having a conversation with them. I’ve always thought of writing as a useful tool for both expression and education. On the other hand, I have been thinking of writing only in its scholarly and academic forms after constantly writing different types of essays for academic purposes. Reading Hazlitt’s text made me realize that it is okay to write in a tone that is more casual and that doing so may even enhance the effect of getting your expression and point across to your audience without misinterpretation. In my opinion, putting your thoughts in writing actually helps your thoughts expand and widens your perspective. I have heard that writing things down helps you remember better; I agree with this statement and also believe that writing things down helps you realize the positives, negatives, and faults to your thoughts. Writing things down can help organize your thoughts and potentially aid both your thought process and conclusion. We have so many thoughts that run through our minds every day; it is hard to believe that we can process and organize all of them without some sort of help. I believe thinking through writing is useful because putting your thoughts in writing helps your mind process, organize, and realize even more than if your thoughts are just being stuck in your own head.
