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
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the years. In the past African American people weren’t treated with the same respect they are treated now. People used to have very negative views about colored people‚ therefore the discrimination towards African American began. In the poems “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks and “Harlem” by Langston Hughes the two authors wrote about the racism that people of color had to experience. These two poems were written by authors that were part of the
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In the poem “We Real Cool”‚ the speaker describes what she sees one day in a Pool Hall in the South Side of Chicago‚ the late 1950’s. There she saw a group of young boys‚ perhaps too young to be there. The speaker wonders what the group of kids thinks of themselves and how cool they think they are. The poet brings up the issue that in society the youth takes pride in their aimless behavior. The speaker also suggests that the boys are living to the fullest‚
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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
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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
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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 a pool hall when they should be in school getting an
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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
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LITERARY DEVICES (ELEMENTS AND TECHNIQUES) Allegory Definition: An allegory is a symbolism device representing an abstract idea. Example: Faith is like a stony uphill climb: a single stumble might send you sprawling but belief and steadfastness will see you to the very top. Alliteration Definition: Alliteration is a literary device where words are used in quick succession and begin with letters belonging to the same sound group. Example: The Wicked Witch of the West went her own way. Allusion
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1. Alliteration Alliteration is a literary device in which two or more consecutive words‚ or words that are nearby in the same sentence‚ start with the same letter. It is often used in poetry‚ literature‚ slogans‚ and other propaganda because it is usually impressive and memorable. For example‚ Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. 2. Assonance Assonance is the repetition of a pattern of similar sounds within a sentence. It is used to produce a form of rhyme throughout the whole
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Literary Devices Allegory A form of extended metaphor‚ in which objects‚ persons‚ and actions in a narrative‚ are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral‚ social‚ religious‚ or political significance and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity‚ greed‚ or envy. Thus an allegory is a story with two meanings‚ a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. Alliteration The repetition of the same sound at the beginning
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