Summary Of We Real Cool By Gwendolyn Brooks

472 Words1 Page

In the poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks the author discusses what is takes to be cool. In the 1960’s playing pool was considered a cool activity and if you played then you were considered cool; however, the speaker is not one of the cool pool players, but the speaker is merely an observer who wants to be one of the “cool kids”. The most noticed literary element is alliteration. Alliteration is found when the speaker says “Pool Players” (line 1), “Lurk late” (line 5), “Strike straight” (line 6), “Sing sin” (line 7), “Thin gin” (line 8), and “Jazz June” (line 9). These alliterations sets the entire ambiance of the poem. The speaker’s word puts the reader in the mindset of the cool 1960’s jazz vibe by adding rhythms into the words. Alliteration is also used to draw attention to certain parts of the text and since this poem is so short Brooks has grabbed the reader’s …show more content…

Pool players symbolized the in crowd. Brooks purposely made the pool players have a set number of people in their known club. Brooks also made the speaker want to be one of the pool players. The pool players set up the entire message in the poem. This symbolism puts the reader in mind of high school and it takes the reader back to their youth. As a reader I noted how there were only seven men in this well-known club called the Golden Shovel. I think that Brooks was trying to show the reader how everyone in society desires to be in the in-crowd and longs to be cool, but only a few can actually acquire this level of “cool”. I do not think that Brooks was trying to be stuck up and tease the reader for not being on her level of cool, but I do think that Brooks was trying to get the reader to realize that not everyone can be in the in crowd. I also think that Brooks was trying to show the reader that it is okay not being in the in crowd because Brooks characterized the cool pool players as sinning, school drop-outs who in the end dies (lines 4, 7, and

Show More
Related

  • Dissecting Rebellion: Analysis of 'We Real Cool'

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem “We Real Cool” is the story of young kids, possibly teens, who are rebellious, uneducated, and arrogant. It states: “We real cool. We left school. We lurk late. We strike straight. We sing sin. We thin gin. We jazz June. We die soon.” (l.1-8) The poem talks about the pool players and their lives. It seems as though the pool players are school aged because the poet says, “We left school.” (l.1-2) This line shows how they have no interest in school or learning. Since they choose to ditch school, they are most likely uneducated or immature therefore, their behavior throughout the poem, is not too surprising.

    Read More

  • Social Construct of a Pool Hall

    1565 Words  | 4 Pages

    The three groups: the professional players, the blue-collar players, and the teenagers, have forever transformed the atmosphere of the pool hall. While many stereotypes exist concerning what a pool hall is, many are not true. It is not full of "motorcycle people," nor is it a drunken scene as depicted in movies. It is a place of social construct, such as everything in society.

    Read More

  • The Beginning Of The Song That Diverts The Heart Summary

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    The alliteration used is to emphasize rhythm in the poem. On the other hand, the poet also depicts a certain rhyme scheme across each stanza. For example, the first stanza has a rhyme scheme of this manner a, b, c, d, e, a. With this, the rhyme scheme depicted is an irregular manner. Hence, the poem does not have a regular rhythm. Moreover, the poet uses a specific deign of consonance, which is present in the poem (Ahmed & Ayesha, p. 11). The poet also uses the assonance style depicted in the seventh stanza, “Seven whole days I have not seen my beloved.” The letter ‘o’ has been repeated to create rhythm and to show despair in the poem. On the second last line of the seventh stanza, the poet uses the style of consonance, “If I hug her, she’ll drive illness from me. By this, the letter ‘l’ is repeated across the line. The poet’s aim of using this style of Consonance is to establish rhythm in the poem and add aural

    Read More

  • Essay On The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ent efforts, or men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (23). Here, The Valley of Ashes is regarded as complete destitution and hopelessness. The people known as the lower class do not wish to live in the valley of ashes. This is why people, like Myrtle try to do anything to get away from it but instead it becomes unachievable for them. When Myrtle tried to escape from the ashes by trying to be with a rich man like Tom, she dies. This embellishes how The American dream is unattainable. When Tom goes and sees George, you can see how the higher classes look down on the lower classes because of their different social positions. The higher-class people such as, Tom, Daisy, and Jordan represent the unstructured bodies of ashes within the valley. They are inconsiderate and conceited people arising from the dead ashes, changing the American Dream.

    Read More

  • The Devil In The White City

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    Page 98 shows the menu of the male architect meeting at the University Club. This menu includes “Oysters”, wine, “Filet Mignon A la Rossini”, a cigar break, and various other expensive items. This is compared to “the streets of Chicago filled with unemployed men”(206). While the architects eat like kings; men, women, and children are on the streets starving, but the greed of the Gilded Age elites keeps them from helping the masses. Greed is also shown later in the book, when “25,000 unemployed workers converged on the downtown lakefront and heard Samuel Gompers, standing in the back of speakers wagon No. 5 ask, ‘Why should the wealth of the country be stored in banks and elevators while the idle workman wanders homeless about the streets ‘“(315). This contrasts the opening of the Columbian Exposition, where “Every bit of terrace, lawn, and railing in the Court of Honor was occupied, the men in black and gray, many of the women in gowns of extravagant hues-violet, scarlet, emerald-and wearing hats with ribbons, sprigs, and feathers.”(238). The difference between the two meetings is extraordinary: ragged workers seeking only jobs and places to sleep compared with people dressed in elaborate, expensive outfits seeking to spend their time pursuing pleasure in the Columbian Exposition. This brings light to the fact that these societal elites can spend their time and money pursuing grand visions of entertainment for themselves, but can not help those less fortunate than them. This is hammered home in page 130, where “In the city’s richest clubs, industrialists gathered to toast the fact that Carter Henry Harrison, whom they viewed as overly sympathetic to organized labor, had lost to Hempstead Washburne, a Republican” and later, “Every newspaper in the city, other than his own Times, opposed Harrison, as did

    Read More

  • We Real Cool Gwendolyn Brooks Analysis

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem, We Real Cool, by Gwendolyn Brooks speaks through the voice of a young clique who believes it is “real cool.” Using slang and simple language to depict the teenage voice in first person, Brooks’s narrators explain that they left school to stay out together late at night, hanging around pool halls, drinking, causing trouble, and meeting girls. Their lifestyle, though, will ultimately lead them to die at a young age. But, despite an early death, the narrator expresses that they are “real cool” because of this risky routine. Through her poem, Brooks’s shows the ironic consequence of acting “cool”: it leads to death.

    Read More

  • The Inspiring Rhyme of Gwendolyn Brooks

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brooks’ selection of single syllable words helps set the rhythm of a jazz mood. The monosyllable words provide a rhythmical tool for generating a snappy beat to her tale. Her repetition of rhyming words close together adds unity to the poem. By placing the one syllable words close together: “cool / school” (1-2) and “sin / gin” (5-6), it emphases each word. The feelings and imagery are clear in this poem. The rhyming lines in her verse contain only three words, and it keeps the poem’s rhythm moving. The short verse makes it easy to remember. The short lines speed it up, but the sound on each stop really stands out. Only the subtitle is longer, which Brooks utilizes to encompass the setting. Her careful use of short words keeps the beat and describes what the boys are doing, like leaving school, or staying out late. These simple

    Read More

  • Goodbye Columbus

    1924 Words  | 4 Pages

    The country club gave the Patimkin’s a replica of middle class life in America. Since the Patimkin’s were Jewish they didn’t have the opportunity to belong to a regular country club, they belonged to the Jewish one, which is why it was the closest replica of the American dream to them, because they were not allowed to be part of the non-Jewish country clubs. The Patimikin’s represent the new world, they achieved higher success and they are able to identify with the non-Jewish part of middle class society a lot more then their fellow Jewish immigrants who have not fully assimilated to society. On the other side of the coin there is the Klugman family. They represent the old world. They live in the valley with the rest of the Jewish immigrants and they live meagerly because they do not have that much and they have not gained much success in their lives while living in the United States. The two characters that represent the old and new world are Brenda Patimkin and Neil Klugman. To Neil, Brenda represents what he doe...

    Read More

  • The Message of Gwendolyn Brooks' We Real Cool

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    "We Real Cool" is a short, yet powerful poem by Gwendolyn Brooks that sends a life learning message to its reader. The message Brooks is trying to send is that dropping out of school and roaming the streets is in fact not "cool" but in actuality a dead end street.

    Read More

  • Betrayal In Gatsby

    1655 Words  | 4 Pages

    The addictive consumption of being rich or trying to be rich is what makes this book reflect what the 1920s was really all about. From the Valley of Ashes all the way to the elite East egg, Fitzgerald gives a realistic insight of how he perceived the world to be at the time.“The materialism of the East creates the tragedy of destruction, dishonesty, and fear. No values exist in such an environment” (Telgen 71). Fitzgerald created all these locations to show just how different every social class was. The West Eggers are distasteful always buying flashy things to show off while the East Eggers are sophisticated and classy. The Valley of ashes is where the poorest people in the book live, Fitzgerald’s description makes it this gray town where ash is everywhere and the men there are dirty and repulsive. Lasty, the most corrupted place in the book where the prostitutes linger around and mobsters have control over everything, New york city. Understanding the huge social division in this book is important because of the significance of actual occurrences in history, since the 1920s America has come a long

    Read More

  • Gwendolyn Brooks: An Analysis Of 'We Real Cool'

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unfortunately, they are lineated the way they are because these uneducated drop out pool players have a limited vocabulary. Brooks makes great use of rhyme throughout the poem, by using words such as: "cool", "school", "sin", and "gin" (3-8). These are rhymes that appear at the end of lines, while this rhyme scheme compliments the theme, it is directly towards a young audience. Hence, why Brooks is talking about these pool players that are supposed to attend school. The poem has an up tempo beat, very similar to a rap song, making it even more appealing to young readers, as this relates back to the way the poem is lineated and thus, making the poem “cool.” Alternatively, this also refers the poem to a dialect, more specifically an African-American

    Read More

  • New Criticism Analysis of My Papa’s Waltz

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.

    Read More

  • Blackberry Eating By Galway Kinnell Analysis

    462 Words  | 1 Pages

    This can be seen in the fourth line, “very prickly, a penalty” as if words were a “black art” of mystery. In setting a secretive tone, the speaker makes it sound as if one needs to be careful with what they say. Another example of alliteration can be seen in the tenth line, where the speaker states, “strengths or squinched,” identifying those words as “peculiar.” Not only that, but the speaker would “squeeze, squinch open, and splurge well” in the “silent, startled” September. In the love for blackberries, the speaker also is displaying their love for learning and life with the use of the

    Read More

  • The Sleeper Literary Analysis Essay

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first literary device that can be found throughout the poem is couplet, which is when two lines in a stanza rhyme successfully. For instance, lines 1-2 state, “At midnight, in the month of June / I stand beneath the mystic moon.” This is evidence that couplet is being used as both June and moon rhyme, which can suggest that these details are important, thus leading the reader to become aware of the speaker’s thoughts and actions. Another example of this device can be found in lines 16-17, “All Beauty sleeps!—and lo! where lies / (Her casement open to the skies).” These lines not only successfully rhyme, but they also describe a woman who

    Read More

  • The Poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coloridge

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through alliteration and imagery, Coleridge turns the words of the poem into a system of symbols that become unfixed to the reader. Coleridge uses alliteration throughout the poem, in which the reader “hovers” between imagination and reality. As the reader moves through the poem, they feel as if they are traveling along a river, “five miles meandering with a mazy motion” (25). The words become a symbol of a slow moving river and as the reader travels along the river, they are also traveling through each stanza. This creates a scene that the viewer can turn words into symbols while in reality they are just reading text. Coleridge is also able to illustrate a suspension of the mind through imagery; done so by producing images that are unfixed to the r...

    Read More

More about Summary Of We Real Cool By Gwendolyn Brooks

Open Document