We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks involves rebellious teenagers who play pool in the Golden Shovel.
The poem ‘We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks involves rebellious teenagers who play pool in the Golden Shovel. The seven teenagers quit schooling to enjoy the social life playing at the Golden Shovel and doing all other rebellious activities. They stay out late at night, drink alcohol, and go against their spiritual qualities and norms. The teenagers are the speakers in the poem and do not show any form of regret for their actions. They use a defiant tone and rejoice in their actions. In the poem’s last line, the speakers say that they die soon, meaning that all their rebellious actions have a severe cost; they lead to a dreadful end. The poem has several themes: youth, rebellion, and mortality. The theme of youth is portrayed in the speakers’ age group and phase of their life, while rebellion can be seen in how they live their lives. Mortality is displayed at the end of the poem, where the speakers say they die young. The poem teaches the youth and teenagers that being involved in rebellious action is not excellent but rather has dreadful circumstances. The author successfully conveys the message in the poem and creates a dramatic effect through imagery, symbolism, and repetition.
The first imagery used in the poem is in the sub-topic where the name of the pool hall where the speakers play is mentioned as the Golden Shovel. The term ‘golden’ gives a picture of luxury and attractiveness. The word ‘shovel’ gives the reader a picture of digging graves or holes. Thus, the name ‘Golden Shovel’ suggests that as much as teenagers enjoy a luxurious and glamorous life, they might be on a dangerous path and digging their graves. Imagery can also be seen in the first stanza, where the speakers say that they left school (Brooks, stanza 1). Leaving school is seen as a sign of defiance or rebellion. Kids who leave school are considered rebellious and failures in society. Society considers school the path to success, a good life, discipline, and prosperity. Hence, leaving school gives us an image that teenagers are rebellious and have no future. In the second stanza, they also say that they lurk late (Brooks, stanza 2). This also shows a sign of rebellion. Most kids who stay out late do wrong things and are not disciplined or respectful. Staying late indicates that they do not want to live normally and be seen by others doing whatever they do. They also do not have regular jobs and do not go to school like other ordinary people. Otherwise, they would sleep at night to rise early for school or work. The imagery used in the poem mainly helps us understand the kids’ behavior and the consequences that await them.
Symbolism is primarily used in the poem to give the poem its meaning. It represents the poem’s ideas, meanings, tones, and themes. It also stimulates a reader’s reactions, emotions, and attention while reading the poem and deepens understanding of the poem beyond the narrow meanings. The first symbolism used is the word ‘school’ (Brooks. Stanza 1). School symbolizes authority and compliance as it is a place with rules to which students are expected to comply. Leaving school implies failing to comply with regulations and leading a respectable life. June is used in the second last line of the poem to symbolize a time of the year when there is peace and happiness. Everyone is believed to love June. However, the seven teenagers jazz June, meaning that they change it. This shows that they are rebellious and live very differently from other people. While other people are happy about the month and enjoy what it comes with, they, on the other hand, are not satisfied and try to change it.
Symbolism can also be seen in stanza three, where the teenagers say they sing sin and thin gin (Brooks, stanza 3). Singing symbolizes that the teenagers have rebelled against not only school and society but also their religion. Sin is a religious word that refers to actions that are unacceptable in the religion. However, the teenagers say they sing sin, glorifying unacceptable actions. They go against the norms of religion and are not ashamed of it. It could also mean they praise and continue their bad behavior, not caring about the consequences. They also ‘thin gin,’ which might mean that they consume cheap liquor. These teenagers are below the age of consuming alcohol, but they still do it. This means that they also rebel against the law. All the words and phrases used as symbolism help a reader understand the poem’s true meaning. They establish the poem’s theme of rebellion and the tone of defiance.
Repetition is used throughout the poem, from the first line to the second-last line. Repetition can be used in a poem to create rhythm, make the poem more memorable, or emphasize specific ideas in the poem. The repeated word in our poem is ‘We.’ This word is repeated to emphasize or center the speaker’s attention. It is unknown whether the speaker is one of the seven teenagers or all of them, but all the same, the ‘we’ refers to all of them. This word also emphasizes their togetherness and unity in all their actions. They are representing themselves so much because they want to be seen. Sounds are also repeated in the poem, for example, calm and school, sin, and gin. These are mainly used to create rhythm in the poem. The repetition of ‘we’ intensifies the mood and tone of the poem. It makes the poem sound more defiant and aggressive. It proves that the speakers are not regretful but very confident and happy about their actions. Repetition brings out the dramatic effect of the poem and gives it a nice rhythm.
Andrew Spacey, in his article ‘An Analysis of the Poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks’ explores Brooks’ poem and analyzes the ideas and literary devices used in the poem. Spacey states, “It poses many questions. For example, who is the ‘we’? They surely must be young because they are cool, real cool” (Spacey, para 5). This is an exciting point because as I first read the poem, the first question that came to mind was, who is ‘we’? I agree that they must be young people, probably teenagers. Relating to my life as a teenager, many of my friends and classmates regarded the same things we read in the poem as cool. This would include skipping school, throwing parties with alcohol overnight, and even talking badly about religion. No matter what parents or teachers advised, they never listened, and those of us who never participated in all these were either nerdy, ugly, or not cool. Hence, this poem’s speakers are likely teenagers because they enjoy rebelling against the rules.
Spacey also states, “The last line is still shocking, the collective We almost proudly boasting of a premature demise which follows on logically from what has gone before” (Spacey, para 29). The poem suggests that the speakers will die young at the end of all these rebellious actions. This is regarded as the consequence or punishment for their actions. I can only partially agree with the point that the speakers boast of their demise. There is no proof of the tone or mood depicted in the last line, but I imagine it is not a happy mood. It is like the speakers know how their rebellion ends, but they can do nothing about it and have come to terms with the consequences they will have to face. This is because they have a reason for rebelling against the authorities they should respect, and the rebellion might be good for society or themselves. Therefore, whatever consequences come with their rebellious actions, they are prepared to face them since they have no other choice or do not want to do things differently.
To sum it all up, the poem ‘We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks is about seven teenagers who rebel against school and societal norms, thinking that they are cool. They boast about leaving school, staying out late, singing sin, and taking alcohol. However, the teenagers die young in the end due to their rebellious actions. The author uses literary devices to convey the poem’s message and create a dramatic effect. The main devices used are imagery, symbolism, and repetition. Imagery and symbolism are mostly used to give meaning to the poem. Symbolism helps to set the mood and tone of the poem. Repetition is used to emphasize the term ‘we’ and promote rhythm in the poem. It also makes the poem more memorable. Spacey suggests that as one reads this poem, the main question one would ask themselves is, who is ‘we’? His answer to this question is that ‘we’ refers to a group of teenagers. This is because of their beliefs about what is cool and how they live. This poem’s moral lesson is that rebellion might lead to dreadful consequences, such as teenagers’ deaths.
Works Cited
Brooks, Gwendolyn. “We Real Cool.” Harpers. 1960. https://poets.org/poem/we-real-cool
Spacey, Andrew. “An Analysis of the Poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks.” Owlcation. (July 11, 2022). https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-We-Real-Cool-by-Gwendolyn-Brooks
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