...Writing about Literature –Com 1102 September 28, 2011 “We Real Cool” “We Real Cool” is a very short poem that can have a different meaning and theme depending on the reader. I did some background information on Gwendolyn Brooks, the author of this poem, and I realized that knowing some of her background information really helps the reader. By knowing this information the reader can understand and appreciate her poem and its message. During a public reading Mrs. Brooks is known for saying, “I wrote [We Real Cool] because I was passing by a pool hall in my community one afternoon during school time, and I saw, therein, a little bunch of boys – I say there in this poem, seven – and they were shooting pool. Instead of asking myself, “Why aren’t they in school?” I asked myself, ‘I wonder how they feel about themselves?’ and just perhaps they might have considered themselves contemptuous of the establishment…” (Shmoop Editorial Team) This quote helps the reader understand the thought process of Brooks and helps define the general message of how the boys were wasting their time. “We Real Cool” has astoundingly only a subtitle and eight lines. The first sentence we read which is the subtitle says, “The Pool Players. /Seven at the Golden Shovel.” (860) Brooks starts the poem by introducing seven pool players at a local pool hall called the “Golden Shovel”. (860) I found the name of the pool hall intriguing because it means much more than a shovel that is gold. Gold can imply...
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...March 9th, 2015 Tarnished Gold Chicago poet Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African- American female poet to win the Pulitzer Prize and went on to serve as the U.S Poet Laureate from 1985-1986. Among Brooks’ many works is the short poem; “We Real Cool” which sums up the reality that youths will have to face if they lose school. “We Real Cool” was written during the Civil Rights Movement in 1959, a period of great segregation. In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to segregate schools in the case of Brown vs Board of Education, however segregation was still prominent in society and this frustrated many African- Americans. Aside from separation, the effects of Segregation caused a lot of black youths to lose sight of their role in society and what it meant to have a bright future. By being told that they do not belong numerous times, being victims of prejudice and being treated as inferior they began to impact their outlook on life. Consistently being told that they have no future led youths to believe that it was nothing more than a false pretense, as seen in the boys who seem to be struggling with identity. Anyone who has ever played hooky can relate to “We Real Cool”, instead of attending school seven young men decide to hang out at a bar and play pool. Brooks is attempting to send a message through her poem and she accomplishes this through the use of symbolism and word choice. According to Gwendolyn Brooks, one day as she was walking through...
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...Miles Davis-Dark Prince, one of the well-known jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader, virtuoso started in bebop, went on to pioneer multiple styles of jazz. He was born on 25 May,1926 and grew up in black middle class of East S t Louis. Before enter to the jazz society, he was study at Juilliard School of Music on 1944. His albums 'Kind of Blue', 'Bitches Brew' and 'Birth of Cool' are considered to among the best selling jazz albums in history. The album “Birth of cool” which developed the cool jazz. In this study the aim is focused on the reason that influence Miles Davis to create cool jazz and the impact of cool jazz towards the creation of Modal Jazz. As for cool jazz, we should start of with bebop era. Bebop is a form of jazz with the fast tempo, changing time signature and throbbing bass.On the top, we mentioned about that Miles Davis moved to New York City study at Juilliard school after graduation from high school, but the reason why he want to moved to New York is because there is a hottest jazz scene in the country and he could listen and learn bebop from jazz greats like saxophonist Charlie Parker, and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. When he arriving in New York, he spent most of his first weeks in town trying to get in contact with Charlie Parker, despite being advised against doing so by several people he met during his quest. On the early, he playing was sometimes tentative and not always fully in tune, unique, intimate tone and his fertile musical imagination...
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...Poem Analysis “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks portrays a fasting living life and dying young. It talks about rebellious youngsters who are not fond of attending school so skip and find solace and pleasure at a pool. This poem holds the whole lives of a teenage gang, from their coolness to their demise. It could be a motto, it could be a song, a chant, a lyric rage against the powers that be. It has end rhyme and internal rhyme which is technically full – cool and school, sin and gin and the repetitive we; this is rhyme that binds together the brotherhood of the gang. The poem is not too long to induce boredom. The tone is one of defiance and stubborn allegiance to the gang. This is a group...
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...Assignment 1 Project Analysis EDU 533 IDENTIFIED NEED Many schools cut physical education and physical education funding with the trust that more rigid classroom time would somehow encourage students to learn more. Students need sufficient amounts of physical exercise throughout the school day, not only does physical fitness prevent obesity and obesity-related issues, but it also improves students overall personal health. Physical education is critical to educating all students in grades K-12 and students should receive physical education on a daily basis. K-12 students should take all required physical education courses and have no substitutions, waivers, or exemptions should be permitted except for medical reasons. Physical fitness education should be recognized as part of the total education curriculum. Exercise directly impacts the behavior and development of the brain and physical activity has benefits beyond improved students grades, physical activity improves absenteeism, student’s dropout rates, and social connectedness (Graham, 2008). LEANER CHARACTERISTICS Gender * Boys and Girls Age * 4 to 18 years old Work experience * None from ages 4 to 15 and limited work experience 15 to 18 Education * Levels K-12 Ethnicity * All GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Goal Provides an overview of health and skill related physical fitness, explains the purpose of physical education, provides guidelines for...
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...Marijuana is bad, period. People today who think marijuana is safer than smoking a cigarette are terribly wrong. In fact, marijuana, over a long debate has been proven that it does gives respiratory problems similar to a cigarette. Not only does it give respiratory problems, but also brain damage, memory losses, and much more. In addition, marijuana is popular amongst young teenager who are either being cool or peer pressure. Marijuana is bad in every aspect, but people addicted to marijuana tries to justify that it is safe for their own convenience. People, who is addicted marijuana, will do anything to make marijuana look innocent. But in truth, marijuana is not safe at all. Marijuana is in fact proven to decrease his or her safety during work according to the “Behind the Smoke Screen” in drug free world. In fact, a study of about 129 college students found that smoking marijuana damages his or her memory and awareness. Because of this loss of memory and awareness, the rate of accident jumps up to 55%. In addition, studies found that 85% more injuries is reported during work and 75% more absents is reported for work. Moreover, in Australia, 4.3% fatalities are due to cannabis intoxication. Marijuana indeed decreases one’s...
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...The poem We Real Cool was written by Gwendolyn Brooks. The poem expresses the quality of life in the city for young African-American men in the early 1960`s. This poem is short but has a powerful message behind it. The poem is about troubled teens who enjoy being in the streets and that if they continue this lifestyle they will end up dead. The boys are not too fond about attending school so, they skip and go to a pool facility. The poem makes it seem as if the boys do not care about their education and want to live a bad lifestyle. The poem gives the reader an idea about how the author feels about young pool players. Throughout the poem the author uses symbolism, imagery, irony and tone. The title of the poem is ironic, “We Real Cool” contradicts the last...
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...The SMS Squad Everyone remembers their first day of school… especially Jessica McClanahan. Her first day at SMS was cool she guesses. She doesn’t really like school so it was kinda a normal day for her. She will tell people about the students, teachers, and the school itself. The school may be old, but it’s still an awesome school. That’s why Jessica is excited to tell you about this school. First all of the students, they’re really cool and chill about everything. Jessica made some new friends, but she had already known some of the students that went to SMS. According to Alana she says “ I think the teachers are funny!” Some readers might be surprised to find out that Alana has friends because she’s funny.When anybody first came to this school, everybody welcomes them there and makes them feel safe. Also, the students are all nice to each other and mostly everyone knows everyone. Like if someone did something the word would get out about what they did. And if someone forgets their pencil in their locker or they just don’t have one they can just ask someone and they will lend them a pencil if they have one....
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...and Gioia, 2074). In the two pieces “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke the poets use a combination of rime, rhythm and meter to get the poem’s meaning across. The poem “We Real Cool” uses rhythm, the pattern of stresses and pauses in a poem, to get across the poet Gwendolyn Brooks’ theme. “We Real Cool” is about a group of boys that should be in school but decide to skip to go do something that is considered “cool”. Brooks uses an imitative tone while simultaneously, questioning of a group of the boys in a pool hall’s lives. Questions come up like “What are they doing here?” and “Shouldn’t they be in school?” but the bigger question is how do they feel about their lives. The poem implies the message that the boys in this pool hall are unhappy with their everyday lives, so they feel the need to pretend to be something else, something “cooler”. By using certain elements of sound Brooks shows the readers that she believes that these boys in the pool hall are trying to be something they are not. The poem also gives the reader a feeling of nostalgia. It brings the reader back to a time when they were younger and reminds them of the times that they tried to be something they were not. Brooks uses elements of sound like internal rime and meter to imitate how she believes that the boys would sound while talking about their activities. In lines two and three the speaker says that they “Left school” and they “Lurk late”. From these excerpts it...
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...The adolescents are struggling these days. In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton describes the main character Ponyboy also known as Curtis is in a gang called the Greasers. The Greasers always thought that the Socs had it better than them, but they found out that the Socs are cool to the point of not feeling anything. In the article, “The Allure of Gangs” it also describes why kids join gangs and what leads them into conflicts, like in The Outsiders. However in the article “Cool at 13, Adrift at 23” it shows how the influence of their childhood plays a role later in life. In The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton it describes two groups of teenagers who have so many differences. In the book it says the Greasers were the poor kids and lived on the East Side. On the other hand, the Socs were the rich kids and lived on the West Side. The Socs were always getting drunk and looking for fights with the greasers. However to the public, the Socs were seen as good kids who didn't get into any trouble. On the other hand, the Greasers were seen unruly and unlawful to the...
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...Rap Culture in Comparison to the Tone of Hughes and Brooks Today it is hard to get into a car and turn on the radio without hearing a song about money, sex, or fame. Modern day rap culture tries to force those three things on our population through their music and lyrics. They have changed many people’s perception of the perfect life through their tone, music, and lyrics. Many poems help express and can relate to the tone of the modern day rap culture. The tone in the poems, “Red Silk Stockings” by Langston Hughes, and “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks, can be tied to the tone in rap culture and express many modern American values. Rap culture in the twenty first century has exponentially grown and in turn has influenced daily American live. Today, everyone is exposed to this new rap culture that is developing everywhere. Rap culture started in about the 1970’s in New York City (Sullivan). In those days rap was about everyday life and race but has greatly change since then. Rap songs these days are all about sex, money, drugs, women, cars, and practically any material thing. Many songs talk about how rich the rappers are and the extravagant ways they live. Most songs in rap culture have poor grammar and language. These songs are crude and talk about women only as sex. The view points of modern day rappers are extremely clouded because of what they talk about and how they live. The tone of the Hughes and Brooks poems help to show the tone and expression of modern day rap culture...
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...Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” is a short yet intriguing poem that contains many elements to arouse a reader’s curiosity. From the title to the lines and stanzas, the word play entices readers as it generates a sense of arrogance, pride and bravado. This short poem details the events of seven young men whose life choices ends up leading to their untimely death. Brooks uses literary elements such as the player’s wordplay, the setting and the change of tone in the last line in order to illustrate the theme of targeting the dangers of the youth. The wordplay in the poem emphasizes the player’s misplaced courage and insecurities. By simply reading the title and the first few lines, one can see the pride that these players exuberate for having left school. The speaker states “Seven at the golden shovel”. This phrase is a symbolic one as it contains many different connotations. The word golden can indicate the youthful arrogance of the seven players but the phrase can also indicate one digging their own...
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...The training period was brief, 4 days. b. I had to conform to the way I was seeing other people work and do things in the chair (bosuns chair). c. I think ambiguity might have been present. Where I was ambiguous on who to tie off my rope or something similar, but thought it best to just go with what the rest of the group was doing. d. It was positive. I have a suspicious that most informational conformity tends to be beneficial and positive. Example 2: a. In middle school I demanded my mom buy me a Starter jacket. Starter jackets were all the rage back in the early nineties, they were cheap polyester jackets with a NFL team on them. I didn’t even like football. b. This one was definitely normative social influence. All the cool kids had one and I needed one to be cool. c. Ambiguity, group size, culture (high school culture?). Well I was trying to figure out how to be cool, and I just knew that the “cool” kids had these jackets so I thought if I had one I’d be cool too....
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...elements affected my response to the poem all together. In addition also explain my reaction to the contents of this short poem. Along with clarifying if these elements caused me to focus on just one aspect of this poem over other poems. When I first read this short poem. I was baffled as to what it meant. I reread it several times and still cold not comprehend what it meant. Then I listened to the We Real Cool speech given by the author of The Pool Players Gwendolyn Brooks. She goes on describing how she was inspired to write this poem. Brooks goes on to explain how one day she was walking in her community one afternoon during school time. As Brooks was passing by a pool hall she saw a seven little boys shooting pool in that pool hall. “ Seven boys in a pool during school time. The pool players, seven at the Golden Shovel”, (Flynn, Richard, 2000, "The Kindergarten of New Consciousness": Gwendolyn Brooks and the Social Construction of Childhood). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2901386. “ Brooks goes on to explain instead of asking herself, why are they not in school? She asked herself , I wonder how they feel about themselves? Did they consider themselves to be contemptuous of the pool hall? Brooks goes on to describe that it was the month of June. A month everyone loves”,(, Gwendolyn Brooks , 1960, The Bean Eaters). Retrieved from http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433. After listening to her speech it was then I could identify with the story of the poem...
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...The CTE classes do so many great projects throughout the year to improve our school. Sometimes Carpentry, Drafting, and Mansory classes take on projects for a grade but a lot of time they are just doing to help out there school and community. They are able to do it with the help of their great teachers. Carpentry often builds many things for the school. So far they have made dry erase boards for teachers, cork boards for the hallway, they have built the trophy cases, and they have built the pull up bars for ROTC. The teacher of the carpentry class said his favorite project was the sheds that were built for the elementary school. Sanders says he enjoys teaching this class because, “I have been a general contractor for the past fifteen years, I like teaching people, and I like...
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