31 pages • 1 hour read
Gwendolyn BrooksA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
1. On YouTube, listen to this recording of Gwendolyn Brooks introducing and reciting “We Real Cool.” What most surprises you about the performance? What elements of her performance contribute to the recitation’s musical quality? In addition, consider Brooks’s own explanation of the poem. In a brief essay, detail your reactions to specific qualities of the written poem, to the poet’s reading, and to her comments. Then describe how your perspective on the poem changed after listening to the poet’s introduction and recitation.
2. The poet Tyehimba Jess has argued that the seven pool players are symbolic of the seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, pride, lust, wrath, envy, and sloth. One can argue that the poet alludes to all seven of these sins in the text of the poem. After a careful reading, can you identify expressions of each of the seven sins in the poem? In a brief essay, explain the connections you made and provide rationale for your choices.
3. By having the young pool players speak for themselves, Brooks eschews making explicit judgments about their choices. That said, the fact that the young men believe they are going to “[d]ie soon” conveys a strong reaction to their acts of youthful rebellion.
By Gwendolyn Brooks
A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon
Gwendolyn Brooks
A Sunset of the City
Gwendolyn Brooks
Boy Breaking Glass
Gwendolyn Brooks
Cynthia in the Snow
Gwendolyn Brooks
Maud Martha
Gwendolyn Brooks
my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell
Gwendolyn Brooks
Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward (Among them Nora and Henry III)
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Ballad of Rudolph Reed
Gwendolyn Brooks
The birth in a narrow room
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Blackstone Rangers
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Crazy Woman
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Lovers of the Poor
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Mother
Gwendolyn Brooks
the rites for Cousin Vit
Gwendolyn Brooks
To Be in Love
Gwendolyn Brooks
To The Diaspora
Gwendolyn Brooks
Ulysses
Gwendolyn Brooks