We Real Cool Gwendolyn Brooks Analysis

523 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Google we real cool analysis

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.
Brooks’s diction in We Real Cool allows her to make a short and simple poem extremely complex. She writes only twenty-four words, and eight of them are the same: “we.” Her three-word sentences that all contain one-syllable words speak the voice of a young person who is probably not very educated. Instead of saying “we are really cool” or “we will die soon,” Brooks’s uses the slang version of these sentences to emphasize the youth of the narrator. In the poem, she al...

Show More
Related

  • The Theme Of Outward Appearance In Barbie, Utahna Faith's Toasters

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    The world of young adults is a complicated landscape, with cliques and a desire to fit in. This push for conformity stretches not only through behavior, but more noticeably through the apparel worn by youths. At the beginning of the story, the narrator states that she and her friends are in “trouble,” but they “do not know what [they did], and [they are] sure [they] did not mean to do it” (103). This fear of the unknown continues throughout the entirety of the story, and readers can infer that the crime the girls have committed was simply dressing out of the norm for their age. The narrator also mentions that she is “white-skinned, ebony-haired, red-lipped, and ethereal,” far different than the expectation for her being “suntanned, golden-haired, peach-lipped, and earthbound” like her mother had been (103). As time repeats itself, so too do the fashion trends popular among the masses, and the look that the narrator’s mother portrayed was the same as the look her daughter is expected to adhere to. This is not the case, though, and because of her and her band’s choices in clothes, the narrator feels ostracized by not only her peers but her father as well, who “looks at [them] without moving his mouth or turning his head” as they leave the house (104). This reaction, or lack thereof, indicates that the father disapproves of the choices his daughter has made about how she dresses, but feels as though it is not his place to criticize her. The ending line does an excellent job at summarizing the angst felt by most teens as the narrator and her band feel as though “[they] are right to turn [themselves] in” to the pressures exerted by their peers to comply to what is expected of them (104). Just as women’s individuality is torn down by the pressures

    Read More

  • American Poets: Biography of E. E. Cummings

    1546 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everett, Nicholas From The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry in English. Ed. Ian Hamiltong. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.

    Read More

  • Gwendolyn Brooks' We Real Cool

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    The poem 'We Real Cool' by Gwendolyn Brooks is a stream of the thoughts of poor inner city African-Americans who have adopted a hoodlum lifestyle. Though many can have different interpretations of this poem, it is fair to look at the life and career or the works and influences of Gwendolyn Brooks.

    Read More

  • Grief and Bereavement in The Catcher in the Rye

    2501 Words  | 6 Pages

    The critics who perceived this book's central theme to be teen-age angst miss the deep underlying theme of grief and bereavement.  Ambrosio asks the question, "Is silence for a writer tantamount to suicide?  Why does the wr...

    Read More

  • The Inspiring Rhyme of Gwendolyn Brooks

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “We Real Cool,” by Gwendolyn Brooks, one can almost visualize a cool cat snapping his fingers to the beat, while she is reading this hip poem. Her powerful poem uses only a few descriptive words to conjure up a gang of rebellious teens. Brooks employs a modern approach to the English language and her choice of slang creates a powerful jazz mood. All of the lines are very short and the sound on each stop really pops. Brooks uses a few rhymes to craft an effective sound and image of the life she perceives. With these devices she manages to take full control of her rhyme and cultivates a morally inspiring poem.

    Read More

  • The Lanyard by Billy Collins

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    The popular American Poet, Billy Collins, is playing a significant role in the evolution of poetry. His writing style evokes an array of emotions for the reader. Every stanza in his poetry passes the satirical standard that he generated for himself over his career. Collins swiftly captivates his readers through his diverse use of figurative language. More specifically, his use of vivid imagery paired with humorous personification and extended metaphors create his unique style of satirical poetry. This developed form of writing appeals to a large crowd of people because the generally accessible topics that he discusses are fairly easy to resonate for the common man. However, his poetry offers an interesting perspective on what otherwise would be simplistic ideas. The main themes and concepts that are being presented in each of his writings are revered and coveted by the general population. An appealing aspect of his writing is his ability to directly convey the main idea within the poem. As a result, the reader can understand the meaning of his work with ease. The typical beginning of his work gives the reader a slight taste of what is to come. Billy Collins’ unique writing style and various trademarks directly influenced by his ability to propagate an array of emotions for the reader, his humorous tone, and the accessibility of the topics he describes within his poetry.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Never Always Sometimes

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    These days, as both characters ironically prove, it is difficult trying to be different when being different is a category in itself. Dave and Julia, the two protagonists of this book, are both the cool, “hipster” type kids that would burn themselves drinking their coffee because they have to do it before it is cool. Both of them think high school is the biggest cliché imaginable, which – when you think about it- it really is. How many of us fantasized over being prom king or queen? Having someone ask you out to a dance in the most romantic, over used fashion possible? Wanted to run for class president or some other office? These are the sort of things that Dave and Julia vow never to do during their four years of high school, until one day everything changes. As the summary explains, Dave and Julia start a pact (which they write down and title the "Nevers List") right before high school, swearing off participating in any of the "cliché" high school experiences that were just bound to arise. The list goes as

    Read More

  • Nomos vs. Physis in Sophocles’Antigone and the Modern World

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Joseph Terry. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc, 2001. 123-154.

    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

  • Gwendolyn Brooks

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...eal Cool” are crisp words that impart the almost punchy style of the seven characters’ speech. This use of sound is again seen in the lines “Your sky may burn with light, / While mine, at the same moment, / Spreads beautiful to darkness.” The description of the sky burning with light personifies the blazing of the sun; and the spreading of the darkness creates an even more powerful mental image. A careful inspection of each of these poems also reveals that no words are used that do not contribute to the meaning of the poem. “We Real Cool” acquires a powerful meaning through the employment of only thirty-two words. “Corners on the curving sky also is quite brief, but still very powerful, and it only contains fourteen lines.

    Read More

  • Plagiarism and Self-Discovery in Old School

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Tobias Wolff’s novel Old School, the narrator, a young and aspiring writer, plagiarizes a story that he views as his own in order to win his high school writing competition and impress his hero, Ernest Hemingway. “Summer Dance,” the story that he plagiarized—where “nothing was okay”—ends with the words, “Everything’s okay” (p. 125). The narrator’s truth, complicated and elusive, proves a challenge to admit as his own. As he considers writing someone else’s story, the narrator realizes how concealing his identity compromises the value of his writing and places his personal truth in question. The narrator uses others’ stories as an outlet for personal reflection, self-expression, and self-discovery without realizing

    Read More

  • Gwendolyn Brooks Short Biography

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gwendolyn Brooks once said “I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it, and experiencing the challenge”. For some, writing may not be enjoyable or easy, but for Brooks writing was her life. Gwendolyn Brooks not only won countless awards, but also influenced the lives of several African Americans.

    Read More

  • Gwendolyn Brooks Essay

    654 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gwendolyn Brooks grew up in a racist time period; encouraging her writings to be about the life of a black during this time period. She grew up during one of the hardest time periods known as the Great Depression. Brooks was known for her writing poetry about racism and life of being a black American; she was often criticized for her works but also honored for showing encouragement and hope in her writings.

    Read More

  • We Real Cool By Gwendolyn Brooks Analysis

    502 Words  | 2 Pages

    To emphasize the use imagery in the poem the author uses a lot of repetition. Throughout the entire poem the word “We” is used to describe that there is more than one person doing something. “We Real Cool, We Left School,” (lines 1-2) are the first two lines in the poem and it already describes that the people in the poem are young and they are bad. “We Real Cool” is a good example of how little you can describe but can still have imagery.

    Read More

  • Masculinity and Evolutionary Psychology

    1827 Words  | 4 Pages

    Blum, Deborah. “The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?” Signs of Life In the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Ed. Sonia Maasik. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000.

    Read More

More about We Real Cool Gwendolyn Brooks Analysis

Open Document