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Category: Essay

SARS-CoV-2 and the Extension of Space

Posted on July 13, 2020July 14, 2020 by Thomas Joseph Wilson

And, So, SARS-CoV-2 When we began our lockdown, many of us felt hemmed in with no space. We were relegated to our homes, and when we did leave, it was with a healthy dose of fear, a bottle of hand-sanitizer (if you were fortunate enough), and a homemade mask. But in this unwanted era, this…

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The Wolf Sanctuary and Empathy

Posted on July 13, 2019May 16, 2020 by Thomas Joseph Wilson

“You must be asking yourself why I’m not in the enclosure with the wolves like the other conservationists,” the gentleman, an elder in age, said into the microphone. “It’s quite simple. I might not make it out.” You wouldn’t think West Lafayette, Indiana, home of Purdue University and many, many cornfields, would be a place…

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Let’s Say Slideshows Are Bad for Teaching and See What We Have

Posted on June 26, 2019May 16, 2020 by Thomas Joseph Wilson

I. The Good Of Slideshows I’m in essay grading mode. That means I’m living and breathing essays. I’m reading and reading and commenting and commenting. It’s a lot: like 151 essays a lot. In this mode, my planning bell where I have been given time to “plan” is now my “grading” bell. My sleep patterns…

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Subversion Versus Dramatic Irony: An English Teacher’s Opinion on the Hubbub Concerning Season 8, Episode 5 of Game of Thrones

Posted on May 18, 2019May 16, 2020 by Thomas Joseph Wilson

The internet is abuzz with Game of Thrones and whether or not Season 8’s fifth episode works. It’s getting quite vehement out there with digital-finger pointing and much crayness times a good and solid number upwards of two. I get it. We love stories, and when our stories are under assault, we respond. So, here…

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Ads and My Shifting Baseline Syndrome

Posted on March 5, 2019May 16, 2020 by Thomas Joseph Wilson

Context: The Times A couple weekends ago, I deactivated my Facebook account. It was tough. Kind of. I was there in the beginning, so there was some nostalgic reckoning there. Like in the old days when you have to get a new phone number and are faced with so many unhinged connections. But the “why”…

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Story Versus the Internet

Posted on February 13, 2019May 16, 2020 by Thomas Joseph Wilson

The first time I voted, I researched candidates, trying to get down to the nitty gritty. Soaking in the issues and what was at stake. Reaffirming or discarding suppositions of the world. That kind of stuff. You know, democracy stuff. I very much remember that getting past the public relations simplification aspect of policy was…

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The English Teacher Black Hole

Posted on February 1, 2019May 16, 2020 by Thomas Joseph Wilson

I hope I’m not alone in thinking, basically all the time, that I’m just not very good at what I do. I am speaking of a very special imposter syndrome: I’m a high school English teacher. When I was young, I was lackluster in reading the classics or writing essays. I excelled in trying to…

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A Regular Consumer Protects his Sleep?

Posted on June 29, 2018May 16, 2020 by Thomas Joseph Wilson

I have two books in my personal library that are begging to be read. They have been perused though. Taken off the shelf, taken stock of, and then put back on the shelf. One because of regular I’ll-get-to-you-later book overloadness and the other due to a healthy amount of anxiety. Regardless, I feel like I’ve…

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Writing to an Algorithmic Audience

Posted on May 30, 2018May 16, 2020 by Thomas Joseph Wilson

When you are an English teacher, there are too many ways to teach. In the public view, you are teaching two really important skills: writing and reading. That’s a simplification. Teaching Language Arts is the cornerstone of being thoughtful, creative, patient, empathetic, revision/editing-oriented, network-seeking, analytical, open-minded, reflective, and well-spoken (or at least confident enough to…

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Practicality Versus the Human Element; Or Why We Are Not Vulcans

Posted on October 20, 2017May 16, 2020 by Thomas Joseph Wilson

I have been using a fictional race of human beings as an adjective lately. Because with technology where it is, we have more and more distinguished ourselves from a Vulcan lifestyle of logic. Let us pretend, by some trick of the universe, Vulcans replaced us right at this moment. It is night, and you climb…

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TJ Wilson is an English Teacher who writes on the side.
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