We Real Cool Figurative Language

The poem “ We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks demonstrates many elements of poems including various figurative languages and theme to rely the strong message of the poem. The poems theme is enhanced by the usage of poems element of figurative language, by using musicality and identification. The usage of both elements helps the reader understand and imagine the actual setting, while reading the poem.

The author of the poem relies a multiple combination of uses of figurative language including using alliteration, assonance, and usage of parallel structure. Alliteration was presented multiple times through the poem, with the usage of musical rhythm and the flow of the overall writing. The usage of alliteration made every stanza stand out to create a flow with reading the poem. The first type of alliteration that is present in the poem is the repeated sounds in the beginning

of the words of every stanza.

For example, “ Strike Straight” (Brooks) and “ Sing Sin”(Brooks) in the poem make the actual theme of the poem stand out more, by the usage of music. Assonance is another type of figurative language used in the poem, where the reappearance of vowel sounds are used within some of the words. Like alliteration, assonance is used to establish a sense of flow through the poem. In the poem, “We Real Cool”, assonance was used in majority of the stanza’s including, where it stated, “ We real cool. We left school” (Brooks). In that those lines, the use of using the “ool” in the ending of each ending of the sentence creates a flow through the reading. Another example of assonance being used in the poem is in the line, “ We sing sin. We thin gin” (Brooks). The usage of the sound of “in” being used at the end word for the sentence puts a sense of flow through the poem, which makes a beat like flow. Parallel structure is used in the poem by the repeated usage of the word “ we”.

Even though the same word “we” is being used through the poem, it presents different grammatical forms through the poem. In some stanza’s it can be a present tense verb and an adjective, where in another stanza it can represent itself as a present tense verb and a noun. The usage of these elements creates a sense of flow through the poem, which makes the reader more aware of the theme of the overall poem.
The figurative language helps set the theme in this poem in where you can imagine an identification and musicality theme through the poem being displayed. With identification, the usage of word “we” through the poem, which sets the tone through the poem. The usage of that tone displays the boys that are being talked about in the poem to be their own identity. The poem uses musicality through the poem as a sense of rhythm of the poem. The usage of the alliteration and assonance of the poem helps support this theme of the song, like how the first stanza mentioned, “ The Pool Players” (Brooks), to make the poem seem as if the words in the poem would flow with the jazz music playing in a pool hall.
The poem “ We Real Cool” is supported by the various different elements presented in the poem stanza’s for the reader to have an image of the poem setting. The usage of alliteration and assonance helps set the flow of the poem with the usage of repetition of words/vowels and the usage of rhyming words in each stanza. It helps bring attention to each stanza even if the poem is very short; you were able to imagine the message through the short poem.