Draw Connections: “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks

Draw Connections: “We Real Cool” and “Because it looked hotter that way”

Gwendolyn Brooks’s “We Real Cool” has become a touchstone for poets—so much so that it inspired a form called the “golden shovel.” Read “We Real Cool” and Camille Dungy’s “golden shovel” poem, “Because it looked hotter that way.” As you read, think about the use of the first person plural in both poems. The identity of a group (“we”) seems more important to either poem than the thoughts of an individual “I.” In both poems, the young speakers are living for the moment, but with a keen sense of what their future holds.

Document links:

Annotated text of “We Real Cool”

Annotated text of “Because it looked hotter that way”

  1. Both poems are spoken by teenagers concerned with claiming an identity. What is different for the speakers of “We Real Cool” and “Because it looked hotter that way”? What is at stake in their choices?

    Question

    mwpVKcfiQurN42YPYbqLY9jMAmb90VTwb5MlT/kDDLCiLbINeUFCvoaNL27YkCDiM+71LdoonKqxPZhj5N9qlDNmHSBwYYpTgPcb6bvk7Q6GOPveRrBn+TkF97p8gTMBgfE4ln7JrnjZA6E9cmI34JjafyZP4IGTXNfLg+8540Aa5PUTL3DYoMwCziCsx8XiDeXObPRWKD3S0eqePzdL2mpqTehidHf7x44aajdL5+tA5RwL3qfZenKccDHtJtQ+Mngd8AU9DZIagEjKVfcOWoJgsePoO2Bn9FoaHVdEXQIa78U61xhIWNrdymU=
  2. These two poems are quite different in length. How does “We Real Cool” benefit from being so concise? What do the more expansive lines and sentences allow Dungy to do that she could not have done in a shorter poem?

    Question

    T4mjFCagVPiBeNK68YF2DPxDw0f8mwKrQHh5Pddgfy/39277SasvH0V4/tATXCTP0iBznUKROzfQwQ3AADG6kEJH0+tZUdhbM10iEa4rCVdpVMkPFb7DP9Q0TWSB19UBntlvXRMsvxePG3Bbh1Wanh3SLcENWx2gbfYaMsGldWy1S1O9VO7ph0Hk1FlQ9wha1fmETRGhpS0WaeqUwlDYVUNfNL0l2w26RvED7HYlCWfOdmqaP9B8ZRWCCTcR5QtnU9IWJVQB/F+Arp/843L10mwj4JfTZi1IRDYaljT/ORIsnzshx2J8i8Sw0u1RXTqwMXqmoLrGiRg=
  3. While “We Real Cool” keeps a tight focus on the pool players, in “Because it looked hotter that way,” Dungy adds several characters, most notably Mrs. C. and Mr. Lurk. Why are these characters important to the poem?

    Question

    UlgmwITJOKoMBGuMFCOcrMLDvBeul+z96ojdUeBrMXNLlw7t5xw5/5JhaPNzLqUIYvgICI01tBzlG0S2SQ3oFF1TWW2Zn8db580Np9K8JIhHwgGwHG4yetWOTCoDkahnV/pzxQfgIIgYhKhUynFCQAsUy1mYWcqC0zh6MbwnFqlVYRfnITsSZ5x52UeHYVSxl5LVUCTzW0Ro7qHWwArNkn+nJb3mWwEmNNfs+51IbBZMHcNylpz7crjsXIyFUxknE5Haq/WQ6h0ZEEA54sHbY+CLt81J+68xc+bqMBkHlJ2g8yir2bFzowprfoKfi2n/1wjaMbXAktsThJ+7