Haleigh Hutcheson Journal 2

At the beginning of hearing the poem, “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks, I made assumptions about the poem; it would be a poem that would reflect on the importance of education, grammar, or the English language. This is an English class, after all. The title “We Real Cool” seemed to reflect some sort of irony, and that reinforced my original ideas about this poem. It seemed like I could possibly be on the right track; however, after hearing the first two lines of the poem, I was lost. “The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel;” I had no idea what this poem would try to convey. I guessed that Brooks was talking about some sort of game she was watching, possibly a Pool game. Based on the interview we heard from Gwendolyn Brooks, I now know that it was reflecting what she saw: seven guys playing pool at a place called the ‘Golden Shovel.’

Brooks continues in saying: “We real cool. We left school. We lurk late. We strike straight.” At this point, I began to feel that my beginning assessment was correct in that this does reflect the importance of education. I remember picturing a scene where a bunch of kids ditched school, and were just hanging out, playing pool. I still believed there was irony placed in the ‘cool’ aspect of these boys. When I read that these boys “lurk late,” the ‘lurking’ part generally has a negative connotation to it. This made me think that these boys were up to no good, and that the fact that they weren’t in school was the cause of that.

Then the poem continued to say: “We strike straight.” When first hearing this, I was unsure of exactly what the author meant by this. I also could not tell whether this was referring to bowling or some sort of game. Later, after looking over the poem more, and reading some analyses online, I now realize that it is more reference to the idea that these boys were up to no good. This reflects the fact that they were out of school, and that is the reason that they are not doing what they should be doing. It shows that these boys are not living up to all that they could be, and this would not be the same if they had stayed in school.

The poem continues: “we sing sin. We thin gin. We jazz June.” When I heard this in class, I knew that the boys were doing things they shouldn’t do. They were off drinking, sinning, and listening to music when they should have been in school. These carefree boys were not thinking about their futures or the consequences of their actions. All of this culminates in the final dramatic sentence in the poem: “we die soon.” The lives that they were leading could lead to nothing but risk, poverty, and danger. When hearing this last sentence, the entire poem seemed to make sense.