We Real Cool
E355155
We Real Cool is a brief, jazz-influenced poem by Gwendolyn Brooks that poignantly portrays the defiant, precarious lives of young Black men.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| We Real Cool canonical | 2 |
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
literaryWork
ⓘ
poem ⓘ |
| addressesIssue |
education and dropout
ⓘ
race in America ⓘ urban youth culture ⓘ |
| author | Gwendolyn Brooks ⓘ |
| collection | The Bean Eaters ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| firstPublishedIn | The Bean Eaters ⓘ |
| form | short lyric poem ⓘ |
| genre |
jazz-influenced poetry
ⓘ
poetry ⓘ |
| hasCharacterType | pool players ⓘ |
| hasCriticalReception |
considered a classic of American poetry
ⓘ
widely anthologized ⓘ |
| includedInSyllabi |
American college literature courses
ⓘ
American high school literature courses ⓘ |
| influencedBy | jazz ⓘ |
| intendedEffect | social critique ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| lineCount | 8 ⓘ |
| literaryDevice |
alliteration
ⓘ
colloquial diction ⓘ enjambment ⓘ internal rhyme ⓘ repetition ⓘ |
| literaryPeriod | 20th-century American literature ⓘ |
| meter | free verse ⓘ |
| movement |
African-American literature
ⓘ
Chicago Black Renaissance ⓘ |
| narrativePerspective | first-person plural ⓘ |
| notableLine |
We / Die soon.
ⓘ
We real cool. We / Left school. ⓘ |
| originalPublicationYear | 1959 ⓘ |
| rhymeScheme | irregular ⓘ |
| setting | pool hall ⓘ |
| subjectMatter | young Black men ⓘ |
| targetAudience | general readership ⓘ |
| theme |
consequences of risk-taking
ⓘ
defiance ⓘ mortality ⓘ social marginalization ⓘ youth rebellion ⓘ |
| tone |
defiant
ⓘ
ominous ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.