Expired with end of first term.More Extra Credit Poetry
Memorize this poem for up to eight points of extra credit.
We Real Cool
by 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.
1960
In “We Real Cool,” Gwendolyn Brooks briefly describes the battle of seven school dropouts and their struggles with personal identity. The poem tells the story of school-aged pool players whose lives may appear glamorous, but is brought to truth in the last line. They are unsure of themselves and basically ruining their lives with their impulsive decisions. “We real cool. We/Left school. We/Lurk late. We/strike straight.” In the poem, the pool players are in conflict with themselves. The are not very confident and believe because they do things such as leaving school, standing around late a night and talking big about themselves, that they are “cool.” The poem's rhythm blends well with its straightforward context. The short lines may symbolize the dropouts lack of vocabulary or they way they regularly speak. Alone each line is short and incomplete but in the poem all of the lines come together to paint an image. All the excitement of this lifestyle is brought to a realization with the last line “We/die soon.” -- from project1.caryacademy.org/
