Joel Foley Journal #2

We real cool. This poem starts off with these three simple words that set the tone for the rest of the poem. Their poor grammar suggests that the people saying the lines or the people the author is talking about are uneducated or ignorant. When I first heard the title I assumed that the poem was going to be about an inner city gang of some sorts. I thought it would be written from either the gangs prospective or the author’s. It turned out to be the latter; she seemed to be criticizing the boys in the gang by the way she read the poem in the audio recording.

The opening lines reveal the characters to be a group of seven pool players. Pool was always played in somewhat of a bar setting so this led me to believe that “The Golden Shovel” was a bar. I confirmed this guess when Gwendolyn Brooks said she was driving past the bar when she saw the teenagers playing pool at the bar. Pool halls also have a reputation for gambling, cheating and drinking. This makes the line “We Left School” sink in because it shows that the boys playing are indeed young. They stay out late and “Strike straight” which could be taken as shooting a pool ball or possibly getting into a fight and striking someone.

“Singing Sin” I took as relishing in sin, or maybe even recounting sinful deeds to their peers and “thin gin” could possibly mean watered down or diluted alcohol. The dilution of the alcohol could either mean that they are too poor to have a lot of it, or they are too young to handle the strong stuff. Ms. Brooks said that Jazz June referred to the jazz music they were listening to, which fits the time period considering this was written sometime in the late 50’s early 60’s. The final line, “We Die soon” obviously means that the young hooligans are going to live very brief lives. But I also took it to mean that all of us will die soon and maybe these boys were just living life how they chose to. I thought it was kind of like a small redeeming quality thrown in by the author at the end of a fairly critical poem.

nicholas giokas journal 2

Nicholas Giokas Journal 2

When I heard we were reading a poem, my first guess of what it would be about was love.  A lot of poetry is written about a loved one or a significant other.  Also it was close to Valentines Day so I thought it would be appropriate.  Obviously I was wrong and the poem was about how people, especially kids view themselves. 

            Going line by line it was easier to piece the overall picture together.  Starting off with “we real cool” made the poem seem more of a social group analysis or an observation on social scenes.  From “we left school” I picked up more tell tale signs of a stereotypical cool kid that thinks highly of himself or herself and is too cool for an establishment like school.  Lurk late and shoot straight were more signs of what a cool kid back in those times would do.  There are many rules that cool kids choose to break. “We sing sin” was one of the best lines of the poem in my opinion.  This is a great way of proposing sin in a different view.  The fact that they “sing sin” is proof they are not in any way ashamed or saddened by their actions.  In fact these boys sing of their sin and choose for everyone to hear it.  The boys also continue to break rules such as thin gin and jazz June.  They have blatant disregard for societies rules.  The last line is also one of the most important with the phrase “we die soon”.  The poet is making a statement on how she views this cool lifestyle.  While it is a fun way of living it is not the lasting way of life.  She states that these boys think to highly of themselves, they play fast and loose with life and lose early.   They like to live on the edge but sometimes playing it safe keeps you safe.  I think the overall poem is a comment on the hubris that some kids have these days.  Sometimes it overtakes their personality and they begin to think they are invincible.  Brooks clearly states that anyone with that life view won’t be around for long.   

Da'Quan Johnson, Journal #2

Initially when I heard the announcement that we were reading a poem I thought that it would be some poets relationship with writing or English overall. After hearing the title I thought that the poem would reflect something about young people because of the correlation with younger individuals to try to be cool. The first line made me think of hanging out with friends, then, “Seven at the Golden Shovel” brought to mind the place where everyone hung out to play pool and attempt to be cool. The repetition of “We real cool”; reaffirms the idea of adolescents being the subject of the poem. At one point the poem made me think of the teachers as the poet mentions school. Then thinking of leaving school in conjunction with we real cool made me think of the subjects as what todays society would consider unsuccessful. The next two lines bring to mind someone that is extremely sneaky and brought to mind the actions of a vigilantly.   And the “…sing sin.” makes me think that these individuals are really bored and have nothing to do with their time. In addition to the lack of substance in their lives they feed drink an awful lot while they spend time at this pool hall. The final stanza of this poem brings to light the times that these young, school delinquents cherish the most. However, this fast life style that they have chosen to live will ultimately bring them to an untimely death. After hearing the point of view from the author of the poem, my initial assumptions were very close as to what was going on in the poem. The poem “We real cool” is a great indicator of the mentality of the young members of society and what they find entertaining. This is still true in the youth of today. 

Jake Bustamante Blog #2

Upon just hearing the title of the poem, I felt that the work would be about feeling accepted in a group setting. The first stanza didn't give me much of an idea of the theme of the poem, but it left me thinking of a scene involving seven young boys playing a a game of pool. I immediately thought of young men playing pool when put into context with the title because I feel that young men were the ones trying to be "cool". The next stanza reinforced the idea that about the characters being young men because they left school and formed a sense of unity in saying "We real cool.". The group behavior aspect suggests that their deviation from normal activity for other kids their age (going to school) is too mundane and therefore boring. In order to break the cycle of a boring life, they disrupt their usual habits by skipping school entirely. The next stanza made me think immediately of trouble because that is what most people think of when they hear about groups of young people gathered in the streets. Using words with negative connotation like "lurk" and "strike" left me thinking that the group causes trouble at night by attacking people. In a group setting, when a deviation occurs, the path of action becomes exponentially more deviated, in this case causing the young men to attack people. "We sing sin We thin gin" is the young mens' experience of being together and away from the schools from which they felt they escaped. Singing and drinking became the way the young men passed their time together in the night. Finally, the last stanza puts the reason behind all of their actions. They acted the way they did because life is better to be lived while you are young and free rather than young and imprisoned by school.

Kevin Stefanye- Journal #2

When you first introduced the title “We Real Cool” to us, my first thought was that the poem was about drugs. I think that people who regularly use drugs and smoke cigarettes got into them to appear cool to other people. It’s cool nowadays to not care about your future, and we can see that in today’s pop culture, especially music, where we are told not to pursue a normal life, not to get a job in a cubicle, and not to conform, but I think that if nobody "conformed" and worked in cubicles, the world would not work as smoothly as it does. For example, a lot of songs (especially rap songs) encourage kids to smoke weed and drink alcohol, which can obviously hinder one’s future. When kids see their favorite rappers doing drugs and making it look cool, obviously they are going to try to emulate them.

            As it turns out, I was on the right track, but the poem was not directly about drugs. Once Ms. Brooks was halfway through reading her poem, that’s when I realized it was not really about drugs. I actually briefly thought it was about gang violence. When she got to the part that said, “We strike straight, We sing sin,” I thought it was about gangs, but I was wrong again. It was about kids skipping school, having some fun in the pool hall. It mentioned how they drank alcohol and stayed out late, but nothing about drugs. I think that the time period of this poem affected the content. If this poem were written today, it would be about drugs, alcohol, and gangs. Those kids probably wouldn’t be at the pool hall, but they’d be getting high behind the 7-11 and going to McDonalds for a chicken sandwich.

            I think she’s right though. Kids like that don’t get very far in life. I noticed that the kids who skipped school a lot in high school because they were too cool to care are now working full time minimum-wage jobs, and are having trouble going back to school. I also like the way she writes the poem. She’s absolutely right when she says, “We real cool,” because she says what one of those kids would actually say.

Mickenzi Schank Journal 2

            Before the poem was read, based solely on the title, I guessed that the poem was about what group of teens did for fun in their free time.  The first two lines confused me a little; I was not sure what to make of them other than the obvious, that seven people were playing pool at a place called the Golden Shovel.  But the lines “We/Left school. We/Lurk late,” made me change my thoughts.  I began to think that this group of people was up to no good.  I also suspected that they may have been involved in a gang, because of the line about shooting strait, but I was not sure if it was referring to the use of guns or if Gwendolyn Brooks was still talking about them playing pool.  The lines about singing sin and thinning gin convinced me further that this group of kids was a group of delinquents.  I figured that the line with “Jazz June” was referring to jazz music, but I was unsure of the significance it had to the rest of the poem.  For me the last line in the poem had the most significance because I was almost positive that Brooks did not intend for it to be taken literally, instead I took it to mean that the lives of the members of this group would be short not because they would end soon but because their lives would be empty and unfulfilled.  I found that I had difficulty understanding the poem while I was trying to analyze each line individually.  I had no actual understanding what the poem was about until I heard it read all together.  Also, I liked listening to the audio clip where Brooks was giving background on the poem; it helped me to better understand the reasoning and meaning behind the poem.  My favorite thing that she said was did not stop to wonder why the boys were not in school but rather how they felt about themselves for what they were doing.  The reason I liked this was because it changed my outlook on the poem.  I originally thought that the poem was written to mock the poor choices of these boys but rather to look at life through their eyes.  The other thing that I would not have realized without Brooks commentary was that the word June was used to represent the establishment. 

Stuart McDonald - Journal #2

 Usually when I think of poems, I remember them having a sentimental focus on a subject such as love or death, or maybe about a specific person.  This is probably because I see poems more as an outlet to express feelings or describe one particular thing in detail than to tell a tale like a novel or ballad would be better suited. 

 The title of this poem led me to believe that its subject would involve people who thought that they had all the answers in life but were actually far from the truth.  I arrived at this belief due to the improper grammar of the title, which may have indicated the author mocking the intelligence of the persons mentioned.  Upon hearing the next couple lines, I then thought it may have been about seven people that would play pool for money at a bar, the Golden Shovel.  The next stanza supported my original thought, adding in the fact that these people would ditch school to attend their games at the bar.  The poem mentioned they stay out late, which is common practice of younger people who frequent drinking establishments.  Noting that they “strike straight,” I assumed that they were good at what they did and won a lot of money off of the profession.

 My opinion began to shift a bit upon hearing the next two lines indicating that they “sing sin,” and “thin gin.”  This information caused me to think that they were older people that have seen and done a lot in their lives so they recount those experiences over the table, while consuming alcohol (also indicative of older age).  The last two lines threw me for a bit of a curve, so I interpreted June as simply a successful month for them           in terms of their winning.  The last line for the most part solidified my later thesis of them being of an older age and maybe even becoming sick due to their hobbies and past ways. 

Nazia Pasha Journal #2

      Before we listened to any parts of the poem, “We Real Cool”, I made the assumption that the poem would be about love. I guessed love because it is a common theme in poetry. But once I heard the title, I changed my mind, thinking that the poem would have to do with social class or interrelationships because of the statement asserting that the speaker was “cool.”

     The poem began with an image of seven people playing pool at a pub of some sort. Once I got to the “we real cool, we left school” line, I began to picture immature, naïve, young, students; the stereotypical group of kids who try to prove how ‘cool’ they are to society. But as the poem continued, I began to pick up a time lapse of some sort, where the rest of the poem actually describes the rest of these kids lives and their outlook on life. I derived these thoughts from the change in theme between each stanza. The beginning stanza, as mentioned earlier, describes immature school kids trying to prove themselves to be something else, but as the poem goes on, these boys lead a life of sin and gin, hinting at sexual innuendos and use of drugs or alcohol, revealing their young adulthood and their interest in wild life. The poem then turns a bit dark in that it mentions death, in the line “die soon.” The author purposefully included that last lie to hint at the theme live your life, because life is indeed too short.

      After we listened to Gwendolyn Brooks explain the meaning of her own poem, I understood her purpose completely, because it matched the first assumption I made about the beginning of the poem, about the kids trying to be cool. I also believe that my full interpretation is valid because both her interpretations and mine are supported by the idea of living your life the way you want to.

Matt Williams Journal 2

     For this assignment we were to try and guess what the poem “We Real Cool” before we heard anything, after the title was read to us, and as each line was read to us. I initially guessed that the poem was going to be about a tree. This was a random guess since I had never heard of the writer or any of her works. After hearing the title, I thought poem was going to be about winter. Again I didn’t know that the author typically writes about people. Then after the first two lines, I thought that it was about cool people at a bar. I thought this was because Brooks wrote about pool players at an establishment called The Golden Shovel. I thought The Golden Shovel was a bar, so I thought the people she was talking about were older than 21. Then after leaving school and being out late were mentioned, I guessed that the people were actually kids skipping school who thought they were cool, but really weren’t. Then as the poem went on, I started to figure out what else they were doing. They were drinking, having sex, and sinning. It turns out that Brooks didn’t mean for “Jazz June” to be sexual, but she does not deny that that could have can be one meaning.

            I find it interesting that Brooks decided to write a poem about how the kids thought about themselves, instead of why they were not in school. Maybe it was because she also skipped school from time to time in her youth and understood how good it felt to be out, and she wanted to think about something new to write about. I do understand why she wants to be remembered by another poem. This one shows what is wrong with the educational system. Brooks probably has written about more interesting and abstract things that are probably better poems.