Cool.
Cool.
The poem We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks focuses on what activities the troubled group of seven teenagers partake in to make them appeal cool. The symbolism, imagery and tone shown in, “We Real Cool” shows how losing one’s identity to become part of a uncaring group in adolescence and social norms will lead one to an early visit to the grave. Gwendolyn uses symbolism throughout her poem to get the readers to perceive the poem in an abstract way. In the subtitle, the word “golden” symbolises daytime and youth. This becomes an ironic name for the pool, because the wandering, carefree lives of the “pool players” seem to be anything but “golden” (line 1). By saying that the seven men “Lurk late,” the poem suggests that they are wandering around…
Certainly, one of the goblins’ treachery effects is the loss of the notion of time for Lizzie (V.449) and it previously happened to Laura (V.139). Despite having being attacked by wicked creatures, Lizzie walks home happily. The bouncing of the coin is like a victorious hymn for her, the proof that she has confronted and overcome temptation. She conserves her kind heart and thus her purity and vitality, which make her run home.…
For some time, there has been debate over what is the ‘true spirit’ of this module, with particular emphasis on how a student should ultimately respond – personally or through ‘readings’. This study guide will dispel your uncertainty and support your classroom studies by guiding you towards a personal response which should be at the heart of anything you compose.…
Gwen Harwood poems such as The Glass Jar and Prize-Giving illuminate concerns fundamental to human experience including life, death, spirituality and human fall from innocence explored abstractly through the prism of childhood experience. The use of binary opposites, metaphors, similes, musical motifs and biblical allusions allow for a multiplicity of responses and readings highlighting mythological, psychological, Freudian and feminist interpretation.…
Opportunities for an individual to develop understanding of themselves stem from the experiences attained on their journey through life. The elements which contribute to life are explored throughout Gwen Harwood’s poems, At Mornington and Mother Who Gave Me Life, where the recollection of various events are presented as influences on the individual’s perception of the continuity of life. Both poems examine the connections between people and death in relation to personal connections with the persona’s father or mother. By encompassing aspects of human nature and life’s journey, Harwood addresses memories and relationships which contribute to one’s awareness of life.…
The poetry of the revered Gwen Harwood is demonstrative of time enduring ideas that thereby craft her work memorable and durable irrespective of time and place. This premise derives from the principle concern of Harwood’s writings; an examination of the nature of human existence and all of its many constituents. Harwood’s poetry thus pertains to the internally triggered or inherent component of the values and attitudes of the individual. Dictated by the fundamental conditions of the human psyche, the nature of such a component is invariable and thereby sturdy over time. It is therefore through an exploration of the establishment, development and maturation of the inherent that Harwood’s poetry may be deemed interminable. ‘Triste Triste’, ‘Mother Who Gave Me Life’ and ‘Father and Child’ pose three texts that demonstrate such theory through an investigation of such timeless concerns as the impermanence of human existence, the continuity of human experience and the evolution from innocence to experience.…
Paigee Keize 11/24/14 It is needless to say that women are beyond strong. We carry life within us and often are responsible for making sure that all aspects of life are where they should be. Women of past centuries had to deal so much turmoil and face so much adversity, especially women of color. The women who I would call my auntie or grandma are bursting with stories that help to explain why they are fearless.…
The Poem “In the Park” by Gwen Hardwood represents the idea of changing identity because of certain circumstances as well as challenging common ideas, paradigms, values, and beliefs which is commonly held amongst mothers in today’s society. Harwood wrote the poem with relatively simple composition techniques but it provides a rather big impact which helps to give an insight into the life of a mother which bares the burdens of children.…
A verbal, artistic, literary work called ‘poetry’ is designed to give intensity, beauty and the portrayal of feelings within a poet’s initial idea. It is a suggested beauty designed to create passion through experiences, ideas, and emotions in a vivid and imaginative way. ‘Gwen Harwood’ uses poetry to pronounce her personal experiences, expressing them through themes such as; Life and death, Making the ordinary extraordinary and Relationships. Sound and rhythmic language choices are used to evoke an emotional response from the audience conveying memorable ideas that become apparent within the verbal composition. Techniques demonstrate and signify the poet’s philosophies of her time, through the expressional texts ‘At Mornington’, ‘Mother who gave me life’, and ‘Triste, Triste’. Harwood attracts critics and a vast range of audiences that interpret her intense, visionary interpretation of the subject at heart.…
Society’s focus on materialism and consumerism has lead to the shift in our value system, which in result has lead to the degradation and neglect of the environment.…
Brooks’ poetry, so rich in personal detail and authenticity, often does not have to justify the moral side of issues like other poems usually do. Her work, for me, seems less confessional and more like realistic humanity, a difficult feat to accomplish when so much of the material speaks of inner turmoil, lost loves, and wistful sadness. Honest in tone and filled with common and often disturbing themes, the poems were ones I was able to connect with. “The Mother” and “The Sundays of Satin Legs Smith” are two poems that speak to me in terms of universal longing and pain. I have never had an abortion, but I know several people who have. In fact, last year I had an 11th-grade student who was pregnant, and I told her that I would gladly adopt the baby. She said she would consider it, but she ended up having the abortion. For a couple weeks after she got back, I kept wondering what that child would have been like; but then, I had to force myself to put it out of my mind. “The Mother” brought back all the joys of having a child and all the disappointments of not having a second one.…
“I have had a happy life and thank the lord. Goodbye and may god bless everyone” (qted Krakauer 199), Chris McCandless wrote before he went inside his sleeping bag and slipped into unconsciousness. American Romantic writers of the 1800’s shared their ideals of leaving the corrupt city for an answer in nature. Chris McCandless went into the wild in April of 1992 leaving all his possessions behind, giving his money away to charity, and changing his name. He sacrificed everything to go on an adventure or a life time. Chris McCandless’s journey to the wild reflects the ideas American Romantic writers of the 1800’s wrote and only dreamed of doing.…
Gwen Harwood’s poetry explores the reality of human existence, utilising a number of personal experiences in order to impart meaning onto the responders. The poems, At Mornington and A Valediction, explore countless thematic concerns including the loss of childhood innocence, comprehending mortality and maturation of individuals. Utilising a regular variation of tense, between past and present, and her own personal relationships with others, Harwood’s poetry provokes an appreciation of the past, and reinforce themes, which highlights their universal significance. Within the beginning of the poem At Mornington, Harwood explores a childhood memory, at “the sea’s edge”, in order to highlight her apparent childhood strength in her naïve belief that she could defy nature by “walking on water/it’s only a matter of balance”, only to be saved by her father. This nativity is reinforced in the parable of the pumpkin, which grew upwards in “airy defiance of nature”. The biblical allusion with the attempt to walk on water reinforces the blind faith and innocence of the child which is contrasted to the personas self-awareness and acceptance of her own mortality, “at the time of life, when our bones begin to wear”. This childhood recollection can be deemed as the commencement of her acceptance of death; however it is only upon self-reflection on this…
Gwendolyn Brooks’ first poem “Eventide” was first published in her local newspaper when she was just 13 years of age. She was being published regularly by the age of 17 in the Chicago Defender, a newspaper that was specifically dedicated to the African American population in Chicago. She carried on writing poetry and even a novel until her death in December of 2000. In an interview with Brooks by Paul M. Angle, an Illinois Historian she was asked how she became a writer; she explained that she loved to read for as long as she could remember and that she thought it would be a wonderful experience to be able to create something so powerful. She stated that she began rhyming words at the age of seven and with the support of her parents they helped…
The works we studied within Creative Writing were all helpful in creating my own works to submit to the class. Throughout all of the reading, many of the works inspired me in different ways, whether it was short story plot ideas or word usage in the poems. While crafting my work for the final portfolio, I reviewed many of the poems from our poetry packet in an effort to find inspiration and to create new interesting images. I took the most inspiration for my formal poem, which I found most difficult to write. One of the poems that was most useful to me was Jilly Dybka’s “Memphis, 1976.” Dybka’s poem follows the sestina form; I also wrote my last poem in this form, so it helped to follow the form by looking at her poem as an example. Dybka’s…