Vocaroo Voice Message- Natasha

Vocaroo Voice Message

Gwendolyn Brooks

THE POOL PLAYERS.

SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.

We real cool. We

Left school. We

Lurk late. We

Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We

Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We

Die soon.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433

MYP Language A English Dept

Ideas to consider for Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem “We Real Cool”

1. The speaker of the poem clearly identifies himself or herself with a group that s/he refers to as “we”. Who is the speaker?

The speaker in the poem is the author, who is talking about his and his friends/family/ enemies/ classmates experiences. It is perfectly clear that the poet is the speaker, because he uses word “we”, which means he is talking about himself and someone with him. If author was not the speaker he would say “them” or “you” instead of “we”.

2. What are her/his characteristics? What can you say about the group to which s/he belongs? How aware of himself or herself is the speaker?

She/he are probably from a poor family, he/she doesn’t care about school, thinks that he/she is really cool and drinks. This is not the best characteristic that I’ve ever given.

3. The first line of the poem states “We real cool.” What do you think is the tone of this poem? Does the poet think the speaker and her/his friends are cool?

I don’t know why, but I can picture some afro-american, who’s wearing loads of golden braslets and acting like a total show off saying this poem, because if a poem starts with “We real cool” , the tone of the poem is definitely not about daffodils.

4. Why do you think Brooks chose to end each line of the poem, except the last, with the word “we”? conclude
Brooks probably does that to give the poem some unique rhythm, because if you remove the “We’s” it is probably going to rhyme in the end which is kind of usual, and if you have these rhyms at the end and then the “we’s” after, it gives it that uniquiness.

5. Read the poem out loud several times, trying to stress different words with each reading. How does the meaning of the poem change as the emphasis changes? (emphasize)/structure/word choice