Summary Of We Real Cool By Gwendolyn Brooks

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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

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