We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks Essay

The PoemWe concrete cool.We Left school.We Lurk previous(a).We Strike straight.We Sing sin.We subdue gin.We love June.We Die soon.SummaryThis poesy was indite in 1959, which was in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. In the shift of Br testify v. come on of Education, in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled t eyelid it was unconstitutional to segregate schools however, desegregation was decrease and many Afri mass Americans became frustrated. Segregation caused more than just separation, it caused many y tabuhs to question their functions in society. Many youths gave up on the idea of having a future, because they were told that they had no future so why try. The boys in the metrical composition appear to be struggling with identity.This meter is only eight lines retentive, so you probably dont learn a summary. What isnt included in the text of the poem, however, is a bit of background framing the lines we read. The poem lists absent the thoughts of some teenaged guys playing pocket billiards at a puss house called The florid Shovel, that seems pretty straightforward. further its actually more complicated than that. In fact, the lines we read ar what an outside observer thinks these boys might be feeling. So this observer, our speaker, thinks the boys might obligate dropped out of school, be drinking gin, staying out late at night, enjoying jazz, and will have short lives. How do we bonk all of this background info? From Gwendolyn tolerate, of course. You can get a line to bear talk approximately We reliable calm mess (and hear to her read the poem, too)We existing quiet Theme of IdentityThe countersignature We is repeated eight clock in this eight-line poem as a signal that the boys have a group identity. The boys desire to be defined by their insubordinate actions, which place them at odds with polite society.We Real aplomb Theme of PrideThe young pussy players seem to take congratulate in their aimless behavior, and c ritics have debated whether they may also take pride in the prophecy they will die soon. They live in a culture w here take down the intimately talented people find that economic and social opportunities are scarce. Dying early could seem comparable a badge of honor. On the other hand, the last line could be read as testify of the speakers disapproval as she tries to pop the boys inflated sense of pride like a balloon.We Real Cool Theme of MortalityWe never learn why the speaker thinks the young kitten players will die soon, though it might have something to do with their enjoyment of sin, rum, and (perhaps) gambling. The speaker could also be thinking that the boys are living to the fullest, as though they might die tomorrow. Additionally, this moment could point to the boys fears, and the struggles and hysteria that they might encounter in their young lives. We Real Cool Theme of Language and CommunicationThis poem is so full of music that we can easily imagine pussycat pla yers reciting it while wearing dark glasses and snapping their fingers under soft, blue lighting. Its jazzin a poem. The seductive rhythm and the use of alliteration and internal rhyme might cause us to feel more sympathetic toward the puss players. The poem also leads us to ask whether their portrayal is meant to be satirical, or whether the pool players might be difficult to trick us into celebrating their lifestyle.We Real Cool AnalysisWe Real Cool Rhyme, Form & MeterWell draw you the poems blueprints, and well listen for the music behind the voice communication.Couplets with Internal RhymeApart from its sub epithet (THE pussycat PLAYERS/SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL), WeReal Cool has four stanzas, each of which is a devil-line bitstockt. every(prenominal) word in the poem has only one syllable.While many traditional couplets in verse have a rhyme at the end of the line, this poem takes rhyming to a new take aim the couplets rhyme in the middle. Thus, cool/school in the f irst stanza, and late/straight in the second. scarce the pause after each rhyme word effectively makes itsound like the end of the line. Its nearly as if each line ends on a rhyme word, and We is tacked on as a floor note. (In musical terminology, a grace note is a short note that gets squeezed in before a beat.)The poem has a regular meter, with three beats and a pause, but these three beats can be pronounced in different ways. You could give voice, We real cool, or We real cool, or We real cool, or, even, We real cool. In the recording we listened to (hear it on Poets.org), permit lay the intimately emphasis on the second two beats We strike straight.Speaker Point of ViewWho is the speaker, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him? Perhaps wed better let abide speak for herself hereI wrote We Real Cool because I was passing by a pool hall in my community one afternoon during school time, and I saw, therein, a little bunch of boys I say here in this poem, seven and they were shooting pool. But instead of asking myself, Why arent they in school? I asked myself, I delight in how they feel about themselves? And just perhaps they might have considered themselves contemptuous of the establishment . . . (source).The speaker is trying to imagine what the boys think of their own lives. She is concerned with the community, but irrelevant some critics, we dont think her tone is harsh or judgmental. Rather, we think shes remaining and wants to get inside the heads of these kids. Maybe she even thinks the boys have good reason to be contemptuous of the powers that be.But what about those boys? What are their lives really like, apart from the momentary glimpse that we get through the door of The flamboyant Shovel? Afterall, they are speakers, too, or at least they are spoken for.We Real Cool SettingWhere It All Goes DownA Pool Hall in the South Side of Chicago, the late 1950sBrooks once tell that she was thinking of a certain pool hall in her hometown of Chicago when she wrote this poem (source). As we read and hear We Real Cool, our imaginations are set on fire. We stringent our eyes and, suddenly, we are in a neighborhood of bungalows and old, brick buildings. At the corner of the street stands The Golden Shovel. Its hot outside and cool inside the pool hall. In the dimly lit building, we see several(prenominal) billiard tables. Theres a bar in the back serving cheap gin, and an old-style radio plays scratchy jazz in the corner. Seven young guys are gathered around a couple of the tables. Two of them have made a bet on one of the games, and the money is scratch off on the table, ready to be claimed by the winner. Theyre competitive with one other, but they also spend most of their time together, hanging out as a group. A person walks by, and they stare at her vacantly until she passes.Whats Up With the Title?The title of this poem is the resembling as the first line. It lets us know that the speak er will be imitating the voice of a group of young men in Chicago. The titles musical qualities make it particularly expressive. The vowel sounds go from high to low, like walking down three steps. We high. Real middle. Cool low. You might also put a heavy emphasis on the word real We reeaaal cool. After knowledge this poem, you might find yourself repeating the title oer and everywhere again, fiddling with different ways to say it. The poem also has a subtitle, which you can read about in our Line-By-Line walk though.Sound CheckRead this poem aloud. What do you hear?Before reading this section, youve got to listen to Brooks reading the poem herself, which you can do at Poets.org.Is it different from how you imagined it? We could sit and listen to her say, Seven at the Golden Shovel all day long. Her voice produces deepvibrations like a low saxophone. It may be obvious to say, but theres no avoiding it We Real Cool reads like the lyrics of a jazz tune. Brooks has even provided musical instructions to how it should be read, with the low, quiet, uncertain We.When you listen to the recording, the most obvious musical element is syncopation, or the uneven distribution of the rhythm. Thats why its so hard to talk about meter with this poem. A meter implies a regular rhythm, and, on the page, We Real Cool seems pretty regular, with three beats followed by a pause. But the arrangement of the words lends itself to wild swings of improvisation.Listen to how Brooks pronounces strike straight, by laying into the first word and backing off the second slightly. She literally strikes at the first word like a fist coming down on a piano. If you were reading the poem, you might be inclined to give both words the same amount of emphasis, but Brooks leng and thens the first beat just a tad thats syncopation. Also, when she says, Thin gin, it sounds like a bunch of people shouting and clanking their glasses so hard theyre about the fall off their bar stools Thiinnnnn Ginnnn To some readers, We real cool, may sound like an humorous whisper saying, No, youre not. Stay in school But if you read it aloud like Brooks does, the irresistible pull of the rhythm can also lead us to sympathize with and relate to the boys.Gwendolyn Brookss Calling CardWhat is the poets signature style?Portraits of the Urban PoorBrookss poetry draws heavily on her native Chicago. It focuses attention on poor, simple city dwellers. In another one of her poems, The Bean Eaters, for example, describes a couple living in a rented room, and they can only tolerate to eat beans for dinner. We Real Cool describes urban youths, and for the most part, her tone is neither angry nor judgmental. She describes the way things are using straightforward, matter-of-fact language, andallows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.Tough-O-MeterWeve got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, youll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = To ughest) (2) Sea LevelWe Real Cool is written in everyday language, and it achieves its effect primarily through its glittering, jazzy tone. There are ambiguities and questions, like on the dot what Jazz June means, but to hear the poem is to understand it.We Real Cool TriviaBrain Snacks choice Tidbits of KnowledgeBrooks was born in Kansas but raised in Chicago. Her father was a janitor her mother, a schoolteacher. (Source) Brooks said of the popularity of We Real Cool Most young people know me only by that poem. I dont mean that I dislike it, but I would prefer it if the casebook compilers and the anthologists would assume I had written a few other poems. (Source) In 1968, Brooks succeeded Carl Sandburg, who coined the phrase metropolis of Big Shoulders to describe Chicago, as poet laureate of Illinois. (Source) Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950 for her experimental long poemAnnie Allen. She was the first African-American woman to win the award. (Source) Brooks was awarded mo re than 70 honorary doctorate degrees. (The walls of her smudge must have been completely covered.)We Real Cool Steaminess RatingExactly how steamy is this poem?PG-13We wonder what these boys are doing until late at night, and were curious about exactly which sins (5) they are celebrating. But Brooks isnt going to give us any more than clues and innuendo. You might be able to vim this up to an R rating if you bought the interpretation that jazz (7) is a slang word for sex. Brooks has said this wasnt what she meant, but that she doesnt mind if people want to take it that wayWe Real Cool Allusions & Cultural ReferencesWhen poets refer to other great works, people, and events, its usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why. Pop CultureJazz (line 7)We Real Cool Symbolism, Imagery & Wordplay here(predicate)s more to a poem than meets the eye.YouthSymbol AnalysisDespite the implication that these young guys are up to no good and should have better things to do, the poem might remind you of your own mischievous youth and of bored summers you spent hanging out in video game arcades even when it was a beautiful day outside. Nonetheless, there is something ominous about these boys who lurk and strike. Subtitle The word gold is symbolic of summer, youth, and daytime. This is an ironic name for the pool hall, because the aimless lives of the pool players seem anything but friendly. Line 7 Brooks has said that the month of June is fragrant and non-controversial. It represents polite society and authority figures. The boys rebel against June by jazzing it up. medicinal drugSymbol AnalysisChicago is the world capitol of the blues, and the city also played a major role in the rise of jazz as an art form. This poem has jazz themes and rhythms in its very bones. Its stalk use of alliteration has a percussive effect, like crashing symbols or the twang of a double bass. The pool players seem to know something about the deep jazz culture. Line 5 T his poem has a make out of alliteration, and sing sin is one example. Line 7 Jazz June. You guessed it alliteration.Pool PlayersSymbol AnalysisBrooks has said she was intrigued by the mix of rebelliousness and insecurity she perceived in the boys she saw playing pool. They want to be noticed, but they also want to seem like they dont give a darn either way. The repeated use of the word We reinforces their group identity, which could be interpreted as solidarity in the face of great social obstacles. Subtitle POOL PLAYERS is the first example of alliteration in the poem. Lines 1-7 The word We is repeated at the end of these lines to create enjambment, ora part of a sentence that carries over the line break.http//www.shmoop.com/we-real-cool/symbolism-imagery.htmlhttp//voices.yahoo.com/analysis-gwendolyn-brooks-poem-we-real-cool-5059520.html Gwendolyn Brooks poem We Real Cool sums up the reality that many youths faced if they chose to escape school. This poem was written in 1959, whi ch was in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. In the case of Brown v. Board of Education, in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to segregate schools however, desegregation was slow and many African Americans became frustrated. Segregation caused more than just separation, it caused many youths to question their roles in society if you are told enough times that you dont belong, that you are different (in a bad way), or that you are less than others, then you will eventually start to believe it. Many youths gave up on the idea of having a future, because they were told that they had no future so why try. The boys in the poem seem to be struggling with identity.The poem opens with the guessing of seven boys at a pool hall named the Golden Shovel. Seven is a number that is typically associated with being lucky. The seven pool players can also be seen to represent a small gang, and they rent luck on their side, in order to survive their various financial an d risky endeavors. The name of the pool hall, the Golden Shovel, signifies the short life expectancy of those who choose a life of crime over education. The golden part of the title implies that these pool players are young they should be in school instead of in a pool hall. The shovel is an image that is commonly associated with graves. Therefore, the significance of the name of the pool hall is that the pool players who hang out there are digging their own graves by conducting illegal business. The pool players have an air of mystery around them that makes them seem cool. They seem exciting, because they arent doing what they are supposed to be doing they arent playing it safe. In the second stanza, the narrator, who appears to be one of the pool players, says that they are cool because they go forth school. They are sabotaging themselves by not going to school and living up to their potential. These boys are in fact not cool. The monosyllabic diction of the poem promotes the ide a that these boys are uneducated. Brooks has said that the WEs in We Real Cool are tiny, wispy, weakly argumentative Kilroy-is-here announcements