Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem "We Real Cool" identifies the struggle that Black American youths went through to define themselves in the late fifties and early sixties‚ in a society that was predominately trying to keep them oppressed. The poem portrays a group of young Black boys who hang out in a pool hall and conduct illegal activity instead of going to school with the rest of their peers. The boys are insecure about their role in society; they talk big so that they can hide behind their facade of being
Premium African American Race United States
Gwendolyn Brooks observes a group of youngsters in a pool hall in the poem “We Real Cool.” The poem is written in 4 stanzas and 8 lines‚ if you don’t count the subtitle: “The Pool Players./ Seven at The Golden Shovel.” Technically‚ every line rhymes in this poem‚ but every line (save for the last) also ends with the same word. Each line has rhyming words within‚ also: “Lurk late. We/ Strike straight. We/.” It is not the “typical” poem you might read because of this. All words in the poem are mono-syllabic
Premium Short story Thought Family
?We Real Cool? Poetry Essay Assignment 5. Analyze a poem using a structure that will include a paraphrase of the poem‚ interpretation of the poem‚ and the theme of the poem. Professor We Real Cool The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel. We Real Cool. We Left school. We Lurk Late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon. (Brooks 782) ?We Real Cool? was written by Gwendolyn Brooks in 1960. This poem is short but powerful. ?It gives the reader an idea about how
Premium Poetry Linguistics Dropout
Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much with Us” and Gwendolyn Brooks’s “We Real Cool‚” the foolish are lamented for their ignorant ways that ultimately cost them dearly. While the bases for their actions lie within the contexts of these poems‚ the mainspring‚ upon which the behaviors depicted in these poems are built‚ is a compulsion to isolate. Ignorance may be bliss‚ but it often comes with consequences. The rebellious youths of “We Real Cool” dropped out of school‚ drank hard liquor‚ walked the streets
Premium English-language films Sociology The Great Gatsby
In Gwendolyn Brooks “We Real Cool” we are given a four stanza couplet that shows the daily activities of seven young men that dropped out of school. What I found really fitting in this poem was how the rhythm of the poem related well to the lifestyle of these young men. Each line comes at the reader quickly. Much like the rapid fire delivery of the lines in the poem‚ these characters also live life quickly both literally and metaphorical. The poem is spontaneous as are the characters and each
Premium Poetry Rhyme Short story
Gwendolyn Brooks was an American author‚ poet and teacher. Her works reflected and were based off of struggles and celebrations of individuals in her community. One of her poems‚ We Real Cool‚ is quite short but has much substance. Although it was written in 1959‚ some can say that this poem can also be set in the Prohibition Era. The poem lines‚ “We real cool. We / Left school. We / Lurk late‚” the narrator is saying how cool they are and also shows some type of excitement are because they are in
Premium
Analysis of We Real Cool ENG 125 Introduction to Literature Professor Mike Knowles November 22‚ 2012 The poem “We Real Cool” was written in the 1960’s by the poet Gwendolyn Brooks. This poem illustrates the quintessence of seven troubled adolescents who will eventually succumb to the unfortunate likelihood that life can render a young Africa American male living the life in the fast lane during that era. “We Real Cool” is an interpretation of a group of young men Gwendolyn
Premium Poetry Literature English-language films
The poem "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks is a stream of the thoughts of poor inner city African-Americans who have adopted a hoodlum lifestyle. Though many can have different interpretations of this poem‚ it is fair to look at the life and career or the works and influences of Gwendolyn Brooks. The life and art of the black American poet‚ Gwendolyn Brooks‚ began on June 7‚ 1917 when she was born in Topeka‚ Kansas. She was the first child of Keziah Corine Wims and David Anderson Brooks. When she
Premium Poetry Gwendolyn Brooks Literature
" We Real Cool " " We Real Cool " is about seven African - American high school dropouts who want everybody else to think they are cool. These teenagers explain how they stayed out late playing pool‚ sinning and drinking. Though they think they have everybody else fooled‚ they know themselves that the destructive behavior that they are taking part in will lead too their death. In " We Real Cool "‚ Gwendolyn Brooks uses denotation and sound devices
Premium Gwendolyn Brooks 2007 albums Theory
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
Premium English-language films Protagonist Fiction