John Downes-Angus
@johndownesangus.bsky.social
Public HS English Teacher in NYC.
Moving comparison between transient and immaterial beauty and the memory in summer of a beautiful fall day, an argument that an appreciation of beauty leads both to a reverence for himself and a love for all of mankind—good stuff, Percy Bysshe, A+.
November 27, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Moving comparison between transient and immaterial beauty and the memory in summer of a beautiful fall day, an argument that an appreciation of beauty leads both to a reverence for himself and a love for all of mankind—good stuff, Percy Bysshe, A+.
Percival Everett wrote the best paragraph ever written about a dog, fyi
November 26, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Percival Everett wrote the best paragraph ever written about a dog, fyi
Am obsessed with this and other like passages I’ve read about how being a 19th century weaver lent itself to reading and thinking. We obsess about workforce preparation in education—maybe my aim is to prepare my students to be philosophical weavers.
November 25, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Am obsessed with this and other like passages I’ve read about how being a 19th century weaver lent itself to reading and thinking. We obsess about workforce preparation in education—maybe my aim is to prepare my students to be philosophical weavers.
View from what one local historian tells me is, not even kidding, the oldest parking garage in the US
November 23, 2025 at 9:16 PM
View from what one local historian tells me is, not even kidding, the oldest parking garage in the US
Do think David Foster Wallace would have had a lot to say about the aims of American education
November 23, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Do think David Foster Wallace would have had a lot to say about the aims of American education
It’s funny to me that in this otherwise bafflingly subtle and elusive book, James chose in “the wings of the dove” to make fun of the way Italian people would say little in English
November 23, 2025 at 1:36 AM
It’s funny to me that in this otherwise bafflingly subtle and elusive book, James chose in “the wings of the dove” to make fun of the way Italian people would say little in English
Rousseau’s intro to his confessions is funny but also more moving now in AI-era
November 21, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Rousseau’s intro to his confessions is funny but also more moving now in AI-era
Like I’m sorry but this is obviously more impressive/interesting/worthy of respect than the Larry Summers academy
November 21, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Like I’m sorry but this is obviously more impressive/interesting/worthy of respect than the Larry Summers academy
Had the kids listen to Radiohead for 15m while they wrote about this, then we read “ode on melancholy.” “Mr. DA this class just made me so sad”
November 20, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Had the kids listen to Radiohead for 15m while they wrote about this, then we read “ode on melancholy.” “Mr. DA this class just made me so sad”
This is probably my favorite day of the week: kids writing about whatever they found worth writing about in our text. So hard to ask them to just write without having them default to weird habits fostered by Byzantine checklists, etc.
November 20, 2025 at 2:45 PM
This is probably my favorite day of the week: kids writing about whatever they found worth writing about in our text. So hard to ask them to just write without having them default to weird habits fostered by Byzantine checklists, etc.
Instead we’re walking around with these fat guys, feeling like we need to read them in two weeks
November 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Instead we’re walking around with these fat guys, feeling like we need to read them in two weeks
Imagine you’re at work waiting for one of these guys in the mail. Like I seriously think penguin classics would kill with a serialized subscription thing—little old book doses like they’re meant to be
November 18, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Imagine you’re at work waiting for one of these guys in the mail. Like I seriously think penguin classics would kill with a serialized subscription thing—little old book doses like they’re meant to be
“I had no idea Thoreau’s journal was so big!!”
November 14, 2025 at 5:56 PM
“I had no idea Thoreau’s journal was so big!!”
NYPL trip w the kids: Thoreau’s pencil and journal; Annie Proulx’s journals and manuscripts; Jack Kerouac’s journals; nature photo archive diving
November 14, 2025 at 5:54 PM
NYPL trip w the kids: Thoreau’s pencil and journal; Annie Proulx’s journals and manuscripts; Jack Kerouac’s journals; nature photo archive diving
For anyone interested in the scene shortening thing. It’s fun!
November 13, 2025 at 8:46 PM
For anyone interested in the scene shortening thing. It’s fun!
Milly, knowing she’s terminally ill—this book is so good. “The beauty of the bloom had gone from the small old sense of safety - that was distinct: she had left it behind her there for ever.”
November 11, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Milly, knowing she’s terminally ill—this book is so good. “The beauty of the bloom had gone from the small old sense of safety - that was distinct: she had left it behind her there for ever.”
“tragedy, ecstasy, doom”
November 9, 2025 at 5:59 PM
“tragedy, ecstasy, doom”
Great little volume/a reminder that one of the best things about caring about poetry is hearing what others have made of things you’ve liked
November 9, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Great little volume/a reminder that one of the best things about caring about poetry is hearing what others have made of things you’ve liked
Rereading “the wings of the dove” since it’s insanely immersive and fun, and I forgot that “iced coffee” makes its way in—find that surprising for some reason, like I thought cool cafes invented that
November 8, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Rereading “the wings of the dove” since it’s insanely immersive and fun, and I forgot that “iced coffee” makes its way in—find that surprising for some reason, like I thought cool cafes invented that
I love this insane album art. “Let’s…scatter the cover with things that look like playing cards. Marble background.”
November 8, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I love this insane album art. “Let’s…scatter the cover with things that look like playing cards. Marble background.”
There's a Divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will
November 6, 2025 at 9:51 PM
There's a Divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will
Fun Strand find
November 5, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Fun Strand find
