Poem Analysis: We Real Cool By Gwendolyn Brooks
Analysis of We Real Cool
ENG 125
Introduction to Literature
Professor Mike Knowles
November 22, 2012
The poem “We Real Cool” was written in the 1960’s by the poet Gwendolyn Brooks. This poem illustrates the quintessence of seven troubled adolescents who will eventually succumb to the unfortunate likelihood that life can render a young Africa American male living the life in the fast lane during that era.
“We Real Cool” is an interpretation of a group of young men Gwendolyn saw in a pool hall. She stated that “I wondered how they felt about themselves, and I decided that they felt they were not quite valid, that they certainly were insecure, they were not cherished by the society, and therefore they would feel that they should, well, spit in the face of the establishment”. This eight line twenty four word poem maybe short but its title immediately grabs the reader’s attention. The title “We Real Cool” can also be misleading because it can make the reader believe …show more content…
The line break the poet uses throughout the poem gives it a smooth jazz sound. It’s tough to identify the meter in the poem because of the pause after the word “We”. The pause is there to allow the readers to understand the validity of what the boys are going to say next. For example “We….Left school”. After listening to her recite it with the pause I tried to recite it without the pause and it didn’t have the same rhythm or rhyme. There are some people who have interpretation of this poem being an example of a rap song after hearing it. Readers would perhaps enjoy listening to Gwendolyn Brooks recite the poem before they actually read it for the first time in order to be able to understand the rhythm she created for it. When reading it for the first time without listening to it readers would have a hard time understanding the rhythm she created for it and it might not give the readers the true feeling of the
ENG 125
Introduction to Literature
Professor Mike Knowles
November 22, 2012
The poem “We Real Cool” was written in the 1960’s by the poet Gwendolyn Brooks. This poem illustrates the quintessence of seven troubled adolescents who will eventually succumb to the unfortunate likelihood that life can render a young Africa American male living the life in the fast lane during that era.
“We Real Cool” is an interpretation of a group of young men Gwendolyn saw in a pool hall. She stated that “I wondered how they felt about themselves, and I decided that they felt they were not quite valid, that they certainly were insecure, they were not cherished by the society, and therefore they would feel that they should, well, spit in the face of the establishment”. This eight line twenty four word poem maybe short but its title immediately grabs the reader’s attention. The title “We Real Cool” can also be misleading because it can make the reader believe …show more content…
The line break the poet uses throughout the poem gives it a smooth jazz sound. It’s tough to identify the meter in the poem because of the pause after the word “We”. The pause is there to allow the readers to understand the validity of what the boys are going to say next. For example “We….Left school”. After listening to her recite it with the pause I tried to recite it without the pause and it didn’t have the same rhythm or rhyme. There are some people who have interpretation of this poem being an example of a rap song after hearing it. Readers would perhaps enjoy listening to Gwendolyn Brooks recite the poem before they actually read it for the first time in order to be able to understand the rhythm she created for it. When reading it for the first time without listening to it readers would have a hard time understanding the rhythm she created for it and it might not give the readers the true feeling of the