Sofia Gasperino Journal #2

              When I heard the title “We Real Cool”, I guessed an African American person might have written it. My first thought was maybe it was about race or one group being cooler than another group.  The “pool players” part reminded me of a bar and it made me think of gambling too.  I thought the golden shovel might have something to do with death but then I realized after that it was just the name of the bar the seven kids were playing pool at. She mentions leaving school. This leads me to believe she’s talking about someone who dropped out of school and maybe has no education. Later I learned that she was talking about kids who ditched school for the day, not permanently. The part about “Lurking late” sounds like they are up to no good. Maybe they are hanging in the streets. They could be involved in a gang or selling drugs. After the poem was explained I realized it didn’t have much to do with that. “Strike straight”  reminded me of murder. I now think that she could have been talking about playing pool or going on “strike” because they don’t want to be in school. I wasn’t sure what “sing sin” meant. Maybe they were listening to music. Thin gin gave me the impression that they were drinking. It made more sense to me when I learned they were in a bar.  I had no idea what “jazz june” meant. Gwendolyn Brooks said Jazz was supposed to be about music and june was supposed to represent the establishment. I think the establishment she is talking about might be school.  The last part, “die soon”, made me think she was saying those people are going to live a short life. I think she meant that skipping school could lead to getting into more trouble.  She thinks they are skipping school to feel cool. Also, I think she thinks the kids have some resentment towards school.