The Poem We Real Cool By Gwendolyn Brooks

     Gwendolyn Brooks is the female poet who has been most responsive to changes in the black community, particularly in the community’s vision of itself. The first African American to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize; she was considered one of America’s most distinguished poets well before the age of fifty. Known for her technical artistry, she has succeeded in forms as disparate as Italian terza rima and the blues. She has been praised for her wisdom and insight into the African Experience in America. Her works reflect both the paradises and the hells of the black people of the world. Her writing is objective, but her characters speak for themselves. Although the

Brooks continues the poem saying, “We / Left school”. Making the hopelessness of this scenario even more obvious. Brooks not only arranges the wording in this poem to show a desperate need, but she speaks of one as well. The fact that these seven young men have no education shows exactly how unpromising their futures are or are going to be if they continue down a path trying to impress each other

In the poem 1958, Gwendolyn MacEwen describes the high school environment as it would have been in the late 1950’s. Popular fads among the teenagers during this era are explored in detail. The prevailing theme throughout the text pertains to the idea of belonging. The poem focuses primarily on the desire teenagers have to fit in. Throughout this response I will explore the ways in which this poem differs and relates to the high school environment today. Secondly I will analyze the connections between this poem and a modern day movie. Lastly, I will express the ways in which my personal experiences relate to the central message in the poem.

“We Real Cool," by Gwendolyn Brooks is a fervent short poem that tells a story of teenage rebellion. This poem is a formal verse ballad which uses simple sentences that create a steady meter giving the poem a catchy jazz like quality. Although the poem is short, it packs a powerful message about youth. Gwendolyn Brooks centered her works predominately around the African American consciousness. During the 1960’s when the poem was written, many teens especially young African-American men felt misunderstood and like the world was set up for them to fail. On the surface, it appears this poem is a mere description of young adults that are misjudged. The deeper message of this poem addresses the dangers of peer pressure, and its detrimental effects to self-identity because of the disconnect between society and youth of that time.

"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.

1. Question: Why does Gatto think that school is boring and childish? How does Gatto’s depiction of school compare with your own elementary and secondary school experience?

Although there are a number of different facets regarding the careers and works of Gwendolyn Brooks and Robert Frost, there are a number of similarities between their respective poems "We Real Cool" and "Nothing Gold Can Stay". These similarities become all the more apparent when one attempts to compare the imagery of these poems. A careful consideration of this comparison indicates that the imagery of each of these poems is preoccupied with the concept of time in various aspects of its ephemeral nature, which ultimately reveals itself in a common theme of the untimely transition of youth to a state of death.

At this school, education was not thought of as a priority, at least not academic education. Instead, students educated themselves on the hippest trends of the streets. For example, if you wanted to make it through Waters without being made fun of or “joned,” you had to wear what was socially acceptable in the black community, you had have your hair a certain way, you had to wear certain types of shoes from certain stores, and you even had to walk a certain way in order to show how much influence you had.

“We real cool” penned by Gwendolyn Brooks is an excellent creation that describes the nature of youths in their young life. The poem is written in a very simple manner, which gives us a clear picture of the youth’s considering themselves as a real cool and involving in a fun as well as risky activities. The poem is the perfect example of what can be accomplished in a very short space with a simple everyday language using only few well-placed words. The simplicity of the language gives us the feeling that it is a real time creation of an author when she was having fun with friends, drinking gin, staying out late at night, enjoying jazz and so on. Also the simplicity of language points the fun, excitement, and carefree moments with no burden

uses the metaphor ‘We sing sin’. Everyone who chooses the wrong path believes it to

It is sad to see how these teenagers think of themselves as being cool because of the activities they choose to do, when they each see how it is making them live a shorter life and none of them are doing a thing about it. Life is worth more than feeling cool. Proverbs says, “Since they hated knowledge…the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them” (Proverbs 1:29a, 32). The teenagers in “We Real Cool” have an image of their selves as being cool on the outside because of the badly behaved things they are taking part in and want others to think them as being cool. These teenagers want to think that they are cool for doing the things they do, but they know that the destructive life they live will soon be a factor to their deaths. Brooks demonstrates in “We Real Cool” that even though people acknowledge their own behavior and think of themselves as being cool, their destructive ways will be a part of their short lives and none of their coolness will ever matter again.

In dead poets society the school setting is displayed as a strict and unfriendly place where student’s individuality is oppressed. The school immediately gives the impression of being highly traditionalistic from the first scene. It opens with the start of a new school year and new boys are being initiated into the school through a ceremony involving the lighting of a candle. The candle’s flame represents traditionalistic conformist views being passed down to the new students from a previous student, showing that new knowledge is not considered of value by the school. After this ceremony Mr Nolan is scene making a speech about why tradition is important to the school. We see in this scene that the conformity has a strong, suffocating grasp on this

Together with four classmates in my English class, I created an anthology of five poems. The theme of our anthology was based on love. We chose love because we thought it applies to all aspects of life, including career, business, personal relationships, personal development, self-care and more. What stands out to most to me about these poems is that in all these poems it shows that love is something that part of our life. My favorite poem is “you” by Carol Ann Duffy who happens to be my, favorite author. I felt strongly connected to our theme of love because it experienced by all of us at some point in our lives.

“We Real Cool” is a poem that was written by poet Gwendolyn Brooks in the year of 1959. This poem states that the black young people in the United States went through to make a clear definition of themselves and tried to seek their values in the late fifties and early sixties, young kids knowing they are different from the society, so they started their abandonment from a young age, they give up school because they know they cannot be accept as other white kids, they were caught in things as rape, murder and robbery because that's the only thing the now to express their anger. They do everything that seems fun to them then die young because they have no hope left for them. These African American young ones are living in

Tradition, Honor, Discipline, and Excellence the four pillars that Welton Academy tries to permanently install into their students. This all boys school is stuck in their ways all with short hair, dressed in suits with ties, and without fail rule followers. The Welton teaches conformity routinely, with little to no parental involvement. The film Dead Poets Society cleverly illustrates the need for healthy relationships with parents and other mentors. Without those the consequences could be detrimental.