Brooks' poem "We Real Cool" addresses the theme of mortality, especially in the context of destructive behaviors. While other topics present themselves, the varying crafts included in the essay point to the fast-burning flame of the speakers. Using identifying phrases with multiple interpretations, a short and to-the-point meter, and lyrical alliteration and assonance, Brooks tells a compelling tale of seven ill-fated youth. Gwendolyn Brooks, an African-American poet, likely wrote "We Real Cool" about
Gang life is portrayed as tough, cool and dangerous, showing that many people in gangs had thick skin and could fight well. However in reality gangsters were always at risk of being harmed or killed. Both in the poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks and the article “What’s it Like to be a Gang Member?” by Bill Lee, portray the risks gang members faced and their everyday lives. Both passages also illustrate the terrible outcome of what happens when being part of a gang. The article represents life
Gwendolyn Brooks wrote “We Real Cool” in 1959 and is the third one from her book. It is a very short poem but has a deeper meaning to it. “We Real Cool” features a group of people who rebel and do bad stuff in order to have that “bad boy” connotation. Brooks wrestles with the theme of rebellion and how they experience the consequences of such actions. This poem spoke to me about things I experience in life, but it can also be universally applied to anyone else. Brooks applies a universal theme
"We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks portrays the plight of the rebellious youth in all their glory. In this poem, the author utilizes unique meter and verse to add to the story she's conveying. The pool players in this poem are rogue youths and Brooks attempts to understand their lives. The tone conveyed in the poem adds a slightly ominous tint to the picture of the pool players. Brooks uses this poem to convey the plight of the pool player’s existence and urge the reader to see the fun the pool players
In both What’s it Like to be a Gang Member by Bill Lee and We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks, gang life is portrayed as fun and cool, yet dangerous, demonstrating that fun things that look cool, can really be just the opposite. Both the poem and the article show how cool it was to be in a gang, and the fun that gang members have. They also show how dangerous it is and all of the risks there are. In the article What's it like to be a Gang Member, it uses facts and personal experiences and stories to
Literary Analysis The poem, “WE REAL COOL” sums the life of troubled teenagers who choose to leave school and pursue street life. The poet only sees the certain fate of quick death for teenagers. The poem describes the happiness that teenagers chase in the present moment at the expense of the future. The teenagers hang around pool tables, learn all the tricks of the game and ignore the consequences of their decisions in their future. The poem showcases the teenagers’ attitude in an emotional way
The poem “We Real Cool,” written by Gwendolyn Brooks in the late 1950s. The poem set in a popular pool hall called the Golden Shovel, in this time era pool halls and the Civil Rights Movement were very popular. The Civil Rights Movement was a movement where desegregation, protest, and social identity was an issue. In the poem, Brooks uses literary devices such as connotation, tone, alliteration, rhymes, and repetition to give us a quick view into the rebellious lives of seven young boys who all seem
I viewed Diahann Carroll’s performance of a heartfelt love song, “The Music That Makes Me Dance” from Funny Girl. The song is written by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill. Carroll’s recording was made in 1968, four years after the role of Fanny Brice had been made famous by Barbra Streisand. I view Carroll as a confident artist for putting this song out into the world after such a groundbreaking, well known performance of it circulated. All of this being said, her performance was spectacular and showed
RESPONDS On ‘WE REAL COOL ‘by Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Brooks were among the earliest Black poets whose works were widely read which earn her an award as her the first African American to receive the Pulitzer. Her works often dealt with the personal struggles of ordinary people in her community. The title of this poem is the same as the first line, In my opinion I like this poem because it relates to modern day kids. The poem is all about a
have a higher chance of getting into tough situations just to be noticed. In Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”, she describes what she believes seven young pool players perceive to be cool by using their perspective as the speaker of the poem. Popularity and peer-pressure play a huge role in youths immature actions. Brooks appears to mock the seven young men and deduce that they are in fact not cool. Instead, the message left is that the young men are defiant, uneducated, and careless. Normally
We Real Cool The poem “We Real Cool” is written by Gwendolyn Brooks the poem is about seven young men at a pool hall trying to convince themselves and others that they are truly cool. They are trying to do all of the things that people that they deem as “cool” do. The poem is comprised of five, two-line, stanzas and is written from the perspective of seven young men. The rhythm of the entire poem resembles the basic rhythm of a jazz tune. This emphasizes the fact that these seven young men are
We Real Cool is a poem with a very powerful message behind it. Poet, Gwendolyn Brooks, illustrates the essence of seven reckless teenage dropouts playing pool at a pool bar, celebrating the bad things they do but realizing they could get killed. This poem was published in 1960 and during that time, many movements were in place such as the civil rights movement, women's rights movements, and black arts movement. The black arts movement had a major impact in theater and poetry, which helped influence
is no surprise because her works deal with powerful struggles of everyday people. Her poem “We Real Cool” (published in 1960) is no different since it was written during the civil rights movement which consisted of tension, something this poem deals with. Her poem “We Real Cool” is a part of her book titled, The Bean Eaters. Brooks depicts the consequences of the theme, teenage rebellion. Brooks writes, “We die soon” an implication of what can happen because of rebellion. Her poem represents a lesson
We often hear that ignorance is bliss, and that if we are unaware of what could go wrong or what is wrong, our lives would be happier and pure. Growing up I always learned that all actions have consequences whether they be positive or negative. This is an important lesson to learn as it makes us more aware of what we’re doing, and how what we do can affect us later in life. It allows us to make informed decisions and lead a healthy life knowing our actions have consequences. In Gwendolyn Brooks’
Analysis of “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks When I read out loud the poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks, the first point, which caught my attention, was the author’s title. I read the title and I felt it would be about the positive feeling of the seven pool players because of the first sentence “We real cool.”(Brooks 497) While reading and listening to the all the stanzas of the poem my thoughts changed because I understood that this poem is just not about the positive feelings. However
We Real Cool – Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem, We Real Cool, is a poem written in simple, everyday language. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote We Real Cool in 1959. It is a very short poem consisting of four verses of two rhyming lines each. All of the lines in the poem end in the word “We” (Brooks lines 1-7) except the last line. This poem has a subtitle, “The Pool Players/Seven at the Golden Shovel”. The subtitle lets the reader know the characters and the setting. The poem is about seven boys
Although Mother to Son by Langston Hughes and We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks take two opposing views on life, they effectively explain the importance of living life lawfully, ethically, and dedicatedly. The first poem illustrates what happens when caution is used, while the other warns against what happens when it is not used. Lawful living is an integral part of these poems' themes. Petty crimes lead to loss of morality, as in We Real Cool. Without a sense of morality, there is no low to the depths
.. In both the poem, “We Real Cool,” by Gwendolyn Brooks and in the novel, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, the characters make unwise choices and later, face consequences for their decisions. Some common themes in both texts include leaving school, singing sin, and dying young. Leaving school led to a chain of occurrences, which, for some, ultimately led to death. One of the main similarities between “We Real Cool” and The Outsiders is that the characters leave school. “We left school” (Line 1-2)
“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks is a poem with both explicit and implicit meanings and messages that intertwine. The award-winning author and poet got her inspiration from a group of boys she saw playing pool as she walked by a pool hall one afternoon- during school time. The poem was written in 1960, and the poet was born in 1917; Brooks being middle-aged upon writing, gives an insight to her attitude toward the boys skipping school. She had raised a son and was raising a daughter at the time
“We Real Cool” is a poem by Gwendolyn Brook’s which describes a group of young men currently skipping school to hang out at the pool hall and partake in delinquent activities. The persona is a single member of the group, however he represents the group’s actions as well as aspirations. Moreover, the poem is delivered in four short stanzas, each of which are 2 line couplets, and every word has only one syllable. The poem takes a satirical approach to delinquent behavior committed in pursuit of being