Gwendolyn Brooks Essay

The four poems we will be talking about is; Mirror, by Sylvia Plath, Courage, by Anne Sexton, Explorer, by Gwendolyn Brooks, and Frederick Douglass, by Robert Hayden. These four poems have a strong meaning behind them. They all show courage, all in different ways but they all show courage. Mirror is the first poem of the four we will talk about. She is a woman poet in the 20th century. She has a lot of pressure with writing. Who is the speaker in the story? It’s her, herself. Mirror reflects on

Cool,” Gwendolyn Brooks depicts the life of seven men from an impoverished, marginalized group. Brooks does a phenomenal job at giving every line immense meaning and having a very clear rhythm throughout the work. Through a line by line analysis of Brooks' work, we can understand the heart of these seven men's broken lifestyle as we examine how the use of enjambments and a youthful, rhythmic diction contribute to the overall message of what it means to be born lost. In the opening line, Brooks sets

Find” explores how a grandmother's unthought out actions have consequences. With the use of descriptive imagery and symbols, O'Connor shows that the loss of morals and ethics changes the grandmother’s perception of reality. In “the mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks, the narrator reflects on the fact that she must live with the guilt and consequence of having an abortion. Her perception of reality changes after she questions the definition of killing. Through sorrowful emotions and imagery, the speaker’s

In “Sadie and Maud” by Gwendolyn Brooks and “Ex-Basketball Player” by John Updike, both poems show that life doesn't go as planned. The poets use context and style to show the purpose of the poem to the reader. In “Sadie and Maud”, the two characters are both sisters that both live life differently with one going to college and the other going to parties. By the end of the poem, the sister who went to college was unhappy while her sister was very successful. The author writes this poem in order

In both What It's Like to be a Gang Member, by Bill Lee and We Real Cool, by Gwendolyn Brooks, gang life is portrayed as dangerous and violent, demonstrating that gang members have to find a way to compensate and prevent themselves from going overboard. Both passages show the toughness required to be in a gang, along with the challenges the members face, such as peer pressure. In the article What It's Like to be a Gang Member, by Bill Lee, gang activity is described in detail, and the struggles

Motherhood Some of the characteristics that come to mind when you think of a mother are nurturing, loving, patient, understanding and selfless. But what about the mothers in A Doll’s House, a play by Henrik Ibsen and “The Mother”, a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks. Would these two characters be considered good mothers? Can we even refer to them as mothers after abandoning and aborting their children? At first read, these two mothers come off as total opposites defined by societies definition of a mother

the feelings of others. Compassion is a feeling of sympathy for someone who has had a misfortune; and wanting to help them. Conflicts can also cause people to act/behave in a way that they normally would not, this is because they are troubled. Gwendolyn Brooks, Judy Budnitz, and Isaac Yuen all demonstrate how compassion and empathy can be hard to find

Interpretation of "The Preacher Ruminates: Behind the Sermon" Gwendolyn Brooks' "The Preacher Ruminates: Behind the Sermon" gives an eerie look into a minister's mind. Indeed the poem's premise is made clear from the opening line: "It must be lonely to be God" (1). The poem proceeds to note that while God is a much-revered and respected figure, he has no equal. The preacher's revelation provides the reader a unique perspective into religion. Brooks points out due to God's position of omniscience, it is

Interpretation of "The Preacher Ruminates: Behind the Sermon" Gwendolyn Brooks' "The Preacher Ruminates: Behind the Sermon" gives an eerie look into a minister's mind. Indeed the poem's premise is made clear from the opening line: "It must be lonely to be God" (1). The poem proceeds to note that while God is a much-revered and respected figure, he has no equal. The preacher's revelation provides the reader a unique perspective into religion. Brooks points out due to God's position of omniscience, it is

placed on African American women, specifically, dark skinned women. Despite her criticism, Brooks deals with race relations objectively and implicitly recreates the black experience for her readers. Brooks shed the light on the African American story through writing. While she does not take a radical approach, such as young Amiri Baraka, in making demands, or use explicit terms such as “white supremacist”, Brooks, on her own platform, shows intellectuals and color-blind conservatives the horrors of being