We Real Cool

“Cool” is not Cool Anymore
Thesis: Mrs. Brooks wrote a poem in 1960 mostly suggesting the type of outcome life will take if one takes the choice the teenagers in her poem took. I) Alliteration A) Words that have the same consonant B) Perfect examples coming from the poem C) Great style to make the reading fun II) Diction D) The word choice of the poet E) “We Real Cool” makes the reader think the poem is something else than what it really is. F) Mrs. Brooks uses “Slang” vocabulary to make us understand the teenagers are uneducated. III) Rhyme G) She uses in every stanza H) Specific examples from the poem I) “We Real Cool- We Die Soon”
Conclusion: Mrs. Brooks finds a great way in this poem to let the reader know what is the path that leads to suffer, and emptiness, is dropping out of school.

“Cool” is not Cool Anymore
Mrs. Brooks wrote a poem in 1960 mostly suggesting the type of outcome life will take if one takes the choice the teenagers in her poem took. This essay will explain, and state the elements of poetry she introduced in ‘’We Real Cool”. To give a preview of this essay the reader must understand that being “cool” is not good. Acknowledging this, here is the preview of this essay. First is very precise to talk about the alliteration she uses in her poem; secondly the diction in her poem will make the reader understand deeper why being “cool” is not good. Last but not least the rhyme is an important element in this poem, thanks to the rhymes she implies in the poem the reader is able to connect these things to make it easier to understand. Mrs. Brooks deliver great interest for the students that drop out of high school and she also suggests that this is a dead end path.
Various lines of Mrs. Brooks poem begin with words that have the same consonant letter: this is how she implies alliteration in her poem, these are the examples: (letter l) Lurk-Late, (letters Str) Strike-Straight, (Letter J) Jazz-Jin. This is a great element of poetry that she used, because the alliteration makes this poem flow much smoother, and fun to read. Throughout the whole poem she writes about the teenagers as “we” in each verse of the poem to emphasize that this is in first person, and the pool players are talking about themselves.
This poem is very interesting and very appealing starting from the beginning. The poems tittle is “We Real Cool” which makes the reader think that this poem talks about people that are rich, and very lucky, but in her poem it is very evident that it is the complete opposite. This is where Mrs. Brooks introduces diction; she starts using “slang” and vocabulary that only uneducated teenagers use. This is how the reader has to acknowledge that being “cool” will not bring good outcomes. Diction is an element of poetry which means the specific word choice the poet uses to make the reader understand the poem.
Mrs. Brooks uses many types of simple rhyme, not only does she use it in each stanza, but also in each line for example: in the first stanza she rhymes cool with school, and she keeps going with the following late-straight, sing-sin, thin gin, Jun-soon. It is very interesting that although she might not have done it intentionally, the tittle rhymes with the last breaking down line —We Real Cool, we die soon—.
This poem is a great way that Mrs. Brooks finds to express her feelings about teenagers that drop out of high school. “We Real Cool” is a poem about teens that lived a life style that took them to a dead end path.

Works Cited
Brooks, Gwendolyn. "We Real Cool." Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. 793. Print.
Brooks, Gwendolyn. "Poetry Magazine." We Real Cool. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/17315>.

Cited: Brooks, Gwendolyn. "We Real Cool." Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. 793. Print. Brooks, Gwendolyn. "Poetry Magazine." We Real Cool. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. &lt;http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/17315&gt;.