When looking upon Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem, notes can be immediately inferred once looking at its title, “my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell”. Titled in a rather unconventional manner, its lowercase letters imply wearisomeness or exhaustion rather than an emphasis on passion as improper capitalizations often do. Literally, the poem examines the life and hardships she must endure as an African American woman, going so far as to compare her present world to some form of hell. Growing up in Chicago, Brooks did not fit in, encouraged by other blacks to embrace her African heritage, and encouraged by Americans to embrace the patriotic spirit. Choosing to write in Shakespearean sonnet, Brooks conscientiously wrote in slant rhyme. The