We+Real+Cool


 * We Real Cool**

THE POOL PLAYERS. SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.

We real cool. We Left school. We

Lurk late. We Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We Die soon.


 * Gwendolyn Brooks

1. Why does the speaker use simplistic sentence structure? 2. What impact does each line ending with "we" have on the poem? Is the speaker stressing "we" or something else? 3. Why does Brooks choose to set the poem as a play, with a setting and a casting of players? 4. The name of the pool hall is "The Golden Shovel". Is this significant? 5. What is the tone of the poem? Does the reader come away with the feeling that the pool players are "real cool"? Why not? Is there a message Brooks is trying to impress upon the reader? 6. What does it mean to "sing sin"? 7. What does "thin[ning] gin" say about the pool players? 8. What does is mean to "Jazz June"?**