Category Archives: Essays and Articles

This is a paper written for my Sociology 101 class after reading Francis Bacon’s essay The Four Idols. Bacon was a philosopher from the 16th century who became frustrated with the science of his day: namely how deduction was no longer contributing to anything new or interesting. My paper is a summary and conclusion concerning theContinue reading “Concerning Idols”

Written in blue ink: 9/3/18 Revised: 9/23/18 I’ve had the tale of Revelations, and Johnny Cash’s song, in my mind lately. Cash says it like this: Whoever is unjust – let him be unjust still, Whoever is righteous – let him be righteous still, Whoever is filthy – let him be filthy still, Listen toContinue reading “When the Man Comes Around”

I’ve been reading Huck Finn for English 202, and it’s a wonderful story, at least until Tom Sawyer gets involved. He’s aggravating and really drug the thing on longer than necessary. But since I’ve been reading a story through Huck’s voice and thought processes, I notice that I seem to think to myself sometimes withContinue reading “Huck Finn – Just as They Come”

This is an essay I wrote in Ms. Blank’s English 102 last semester on a book assigned to the class: The Handmaid’s Tale. The Handmaid’s Tale: A Dysfunctional Dystopia (3/29/18) Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale with considerably limiting self-imposed constraints in place. In the book’s introduction, she says she feared that the story would have aContinue reading “The Handmaid’s Tale: A Book Review”

Several weeks ago one of my friends, who recently taught a short period of high school literature, said she was going do the essay she’d assigned her students and asked if I’d do it too. This is what came of that. And below is a political cartoon I sketched today. 6/28/18 Three Things Concerning HobbitsContinue reading “Concerning Hobbits and Presidents”

“Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? It is that we have only known the back of the world. We see everything from behind, and it looks brutal. That is not a tree, but the back of a tree. That is not a cloud, but the back of a cloud. Cannot youContinue reading “Spin Us Round”

CRAZYTALK – Mat Kearney When Mat Kearney gave us his fifth album, JUST KIDS, in February of 2015, it surprised me. I distinctly remember listening through the whole album on a long ride home from Pennsylvania in March. The sounds on that album were starkly different than what I was used to hearing from himContinue reading “CRAZYTALK”

*cover photo is not my own. Yesterday in English class our teacher asked us to think of a movie that we watched as a child and then re-watched later and interpreted differently. And no, she said, I don’t mean that you just watched it again and got all the jokes that went over your head.Continue reading “The Oil Rigs”

I’ve been listening to Stephen West’s podcast Philosophize This! some lately. In Western Civilization 101 we were tasked with writing a seven ish page essay describing our own picks for the seven wonders of the ancient world. I decided to pick seven important philosophers. *Pro tip: use block quotes. (photo by David Krabill) *Pick 7 wondersContinue reading “Seven Wonders of Ancient Ideology”

I don’t write very many stories. But the other day I was riding down the rode and thought of this one. So here it is, a long rambling parable about what I’m not entirely sure. 1/18/18 10:24 p.m. Westminster, SC “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell themContinue reading “The Girl From the Purple Hotel”