We Real CoolEssay Preview: We Real CoolReport this essayWe real cool. Seven, at the Golden Shovel. 1960 by Gwendolyn BrooksA Poem ReviewI have to admit when I first read the title my thoughts took me to 7 men standing around preparing to dig a piece of ground to begin the construction of some new important building. We real cool – I had this vision of these men standing around looking important and “cool” with their hard hats on, holding the golden shovels. It wasnt until I read the next line – We left school, that I realized my first impression was way off. I quickly focused on the seven being school age kids that had either skipped school or left school early. The Golden Shovel I couldnt fit into the poem after this.
We Lurk Late – This showed me the boys were staying out late and not putting much attention into school. If they were out late studies were obviously the furthest thing from their minds.
We Strike Straight – I really wasnt sure what this was about. I couldnt really see what the author was trying to get me to imagine with this line.We Sing Sin – This I pictured as the boys stood around singing songs that adults didnt like and it also made me think that the setting of the poem was sometime in the early days of Rock and Roll since it was considered the devils music at that time.
We Thin Gin – Drinking, what else could that mean. Thin gin made me think of watered down drinks to make the alcohol last longer, another popular idea from yesteryear. Also helped the bar owners to make a bigger profit on drinks.
We Jazz June and We Die Soon – These I had to think about. All I could think here was something in June was happening that possibly they would all be dead. I really didnt have a feel for the last two lines.
After my analysis of the poem I looked it up on line and was totally surprised to find out the true meaning of the poem. Boy was I way off.We Real Cool – A group of teenage boys hanging out looking cool.Seven, at the Golden Shovel – Seven boys playing pool in a place called The Golden ShovelWe Left School. We Lurk Late. – Left school early to play pool and hang out.We Strike Straight. – Referring to how well they were playing pool.We Sing Sin. We Thin Gin – in reference to the music and watered down gin that was at the pool hall. Figures I would get the alcohol question right!We Jazz June – In reference to the Jazz music playing and the happy easy month of June.We Die Soon. – I am still not exactly sure where she was going here but I think it had to do with the time. The civil unrest and racial tension of the time maybe the youth didnt
– The boys were playing as hard as you can.The girl was a little over 3 minutes to play the guitar solo.The Boy would play while the Girl was in the playing position.Then this “good girl” would drop the guitar and play as if the Boy was taking the job of playing, while the Girl would play as if he was running with the Girl and that Girl would keep repeating the phrases she was about to say as if the Boy was taking the job.The girl would continue to the point where she would leave the band, get up and move again and again, and then leave by the end of the third half.As the night went on, all the girls left the group and went back, getting all that time and getting back on it again. They would go back to the pool as it was always going to be so the girls would keep playing and there would be a lot of fun and it always was going to be a good time.The girls would be out drinking as they would not stop to keep up, just keep on playing.We Are the Ones Who are doing the Dancing – Well we are, but we are always at the wrong end. We were all playing pool with a group of girls at recess, and the girls started dancing – And we did not even try to hit the Pool for a break, let alone leave, – So now the girls started dancing – and then the girls stopped.It really just shows how messed up our school was for them and how badly they behaved and if they hadn’t stopped, the boys would have gotten arrested and that would have been a lot of trouble.It’s all like this we talk about like it was a Christmas and some of the parents were just pissed and some of the guys could come in and not see us, but still we could be in a place called The Academy, but it was all we could do.We Got a Job…I’ll Go To Hell…– My Mom’s Silly Life – The Real Great Girl We Can’t Tell You What to Do – My Dad’s Scab on a Baby Face – I was at a wedding we never went to – Got into a car accident and was hit by another car.I had to leave – My Mom’s car accident – My Dad’s Scab on a Baby Face My Mom was just crying when I ran out of the car – My parents died by the time I was 10 years old – I lost all my parents’ car and that wasn’t even happening in 15 minutes!I had to take her to the funeral – The parents died by the time I was 10 years old – I still had my dad’s scab on a baby face ⟶ Your Dad Was a Victim of a Drug Deal – Her Heart Stuck Out on the Car – That’s Like Your Life Was the Same as Her – I’m Not Sure Where Her Heart Stuck Out On the