We real cool

Analysis of Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”

Gwendolyn Brooks grew up in the slums of Chicago, and most of her poetry came from her experiences living there (Mootry and Smith 6). Among those experiences, she noticed a disturbing trend of young black males dropping out of school and getting into trouble on the tough city streets. Brooks wrote “We Real Cool” as a reaction to seeing what came of these peoples’ lives during the struggle for civil rights in the United States in the 1960s. The poem is intended to both raise awareness of the growing problems facing urban youth and to speak directly to them to possibly spurn some sort of change in their thinking patterns (Mootry and Smith 5). Through a variety of literary devices, Brooks does a phenomenal job in addressing the issues at hand. A thorough explication of “We Real Cool” proves that the style, personae, tone and diction that Brooks uses to tell the poem make for an effective way to show the consequences of rebellious behavior among African-American males in the 1960s.

The poem is one of the shortest poems in The Bean Eaters, with only 10 lines – two introductory lines set off from eight more lines, which are divided into four stanzas. Therefore, it doesn’t require a

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Besides the color one associates with the word “Golden,” it has other meanings. ” And again, Brooks chooses these words for a reason. Pool is normally a game played at the back of bars and can have negative connotations because it can be associated with drinking and gambling. After repeating the title in Line 1, Brooks describes the series of rebellious activities of the pool players. Brooks wants to tell her audience that leaving school may not seem like a life-and-death action, but it really can be because of what it leads to. ” A “Shovel” is a tool that conjures up thoughts of digging and burial. Brooks’ choice of words here is also notable. ”

The final line of the poem reveals the grave consequence of the pool players’ actions. So, according to Melhem’s book, Brooks wants the readers to understand “Jazz June” to mean that the players are wasting away their time without doing anything really significant – they are just “having fun. ” “Jazz” is a short word, but it is loaded with meaning. ” Both definitions apply in this case – the players sadly die both in the near future and before their usual or appointed time because they are presumably so young. So, it is not just that they drink, but they all take part in this socially deviant activity together. ” June could be either a girl’s name or the month. Brooks does not judge the players, though. ” However, it can also mean “before the usual or appointed time; early.

Approximate Word count = 1507
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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