The Life Of Sohum

Contrary to popular belief, I do know how to read and enjoy it. For me, whenever I make lists of shows/movies to watch I always end up forgetting about them until the day somebody reminds me that I need to watch them. Hopefully, this list doesn’t end up turning into that. So without further ado, here's 10 "books" I plan to read in the next 10 years in no particular order.

  Dear Cathy Park Hong, As I read your poem titled Ballad of Infanticide I was awed by your masterful use of imagery and your unique writing style. While I don’t think I can fully understand all that you wished to convey through your poem, I do feel like I was able to appreciate your mastery of language and emotions. Your seemingly short and insignificant poem has many layers of complexities within. Like many of your other works, you highlight cultural differences with underlying themes of prejudice and discrimination. However, unlike many other authors, you don’t refer to the world as “this and that.” Instead, you show us the world through the eyes of your characters to show the reader how they perceive the world and what you want the reader to see and appreciate from your poems. Ballad of Infanticide in addition to many of your other works takes the reader by the hand to highlight what you wish to show while still maintaining the freedom of differing opinions and viewpoints. As ...

Summertime, and the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good-lookin' So hush little baby, don't you cry One of these mornings, you're goin' to rise up singin' And you'll spread your wings and you'll take the sky But 'til that mornin', there's a-nothin' can harm you With daddy and mommy standin' by One of these mornings, you're goin' to rise up singin' And you'll spread your wings and you'll take the sky But 'til that mornin', there's a-nothin' can harm you With daddy and mommy standin' by     Summertime, composed by the great George Gershwin for Porgy and Bess and popularized by the great Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, was written to bring attention to racial injustices of African Americans under the era of Jim Crow laws. Upon a casual listen, it seems as if the song carries a lazy slant reflecting a summer evening and the dre...

  Poetry is complicated. I often wondered why poets mix and mash their words so that the reader can barely comprehend what the author is trying to say. Today, I have finally received my answer. Look no further than Emily Dickinson's "Tell all the truth but tell it slant." Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind —      In this poem, Emily argues that directly delivering the truth will overwhelm the audience and should instead be told in a roundabout method. While I understood this concept, I couldn't appreciate what she was trying to say until I read one of her other poems. In her other poem, "Come slowly - Eden!," the author's intent may not be understood at first glance- Come slowly – Eden! Lips unused to Thee – Bashful – sip thy Jessamines – As the fainting Bee – Reaching late his flower, Ro...

  Similar to the two approaches to gaining enlightenment, I believe there are two approaches to feeling fulfilled in life. Through the mundaneness of life, we can see either the continuous struggles and worries of school life or we can enjoy the laughter we share with friends who are close to us. Day in and day out we follow nearly the same routine year after year. Wake up, go to school, nearly fall asleep in all of your classes, go home, sit on your phone for 4 hours, do homework, go to sleep… rinse and repeat. It’s the same thing every day.  If we look back at our memories of the past, we only remember the good times. We don’t remember the monotone voice of our teachers or the thousands of homework assignments due at 11:59. What I do remember however, is wasting hours at the library “studying” with friends while being completely unproductive but still having joy without worrying about the consequences. When everything melds together in the end, the individual voices of t...

Part 1:      “If there could be any mortal who could observe with his mind the interconnection of all causes, nothing indeed would escape him. For he who knows the causes of things that are to be necessarily knows all the things that are going to be.” - (Cicero, On Divination, 1.127.)      It is said that knowledge is power. If this supposed mortal were to have such infinite knowledge, would he truly have infinite power? This is the principle behind determinism, everything is the direct cause of a previous event leading back to the Big Bang. Many philosophers over the centuries have wondered whether or not this is the case. If such is the case, can one truly be held responsible for their actions since all actions stem not from free will but a sequence of events that forced their hand? If we imagine a ball sitting atop a hill, we can calculate the time it takes to roll down knowing certain information such as drag, friction, height, mass, and speed. Can this...