Students analyze the literary features of Gwendolyn Brooks' We Real Cool, and then imagine themselves as one of the characters in the poem many years in the future. Using online resources, students explore the poem's rhythm and rhyme as well as how one reader has seen himself in Brooks' poetry. After exploring the poem thoroughly, students read a poem that they admired and briefly state the reason/s why they chose it.

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Gwendolyn Brooks

 

Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1917 and raised in Chicago. She is the author of more than twenty books of poetry, including Children Coming Home (The David Co., 1991); Blacks (1987); To Disembark (1981); The Near-Johannesburg Boy and Other Poems (1986); Riot (1969); In the Mecca (1968); The Bean Eaters (1960); Annie Allen (1949), for which she received the Pulitzer Prize; and A Street in Bronzeville (1945). She also wrote numerous other books including a novel, Maud Martha (1953), and Report from Part One: An Autobiography (1972), and edited Jump Bad: A New Chicago Anthology (1971). In 1968 she was named Poet Laureate for the state of Illinois, and from 1985-86 she was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She also received an American Academy of Arts and Letters award, the Frost Medal, a National Endowment for the Arts award, the Shelley Memorial Award, and fellowships from The Academy of American Poets and the Guggenheim Foundation. She lived in Chicago until her death on December 3, 2000.

 

Source: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/165

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Read Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "We Real Cool" out loud to yourself a few times.

 

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.

 

Source: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/rbc/rbpe/rbpe33/rbpe339/33901800/001dt.gif

http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/postwar/artenter/realcool.html

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Then listen to Gwendolyn Brooks read the poem, http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433

 

• Where does this poem take place?
• Who makes up the "we" in the poem? How would you describe the "we" and what are they doing throughout the poem (consider their age and attitude)?
• How would you describe the voices, or identities, of the "we"? What three adjectives best describe the pool players?
• Ask the students who read the poem whether it was difficult for them to pause after each "we" (where the line breaks). Why or why not?
• What was different about each student’s and John Ulrich’s reading of the poem?
• What do you think made the poem compelling to John Ulrich based on how he described his life, his neighborhood, and his friends?
• What about the poem stood out as each student was reading the poem?
• What is the mood or tone of the poem?
• How would you describe the sound of the poem - like a song, a chant, or some other sound?

Source: http://edsitement.neh.gov/LaunchPad/LaunchPad-Brooks.html

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Then watch the video of John Ulrich discussing and reading "We Real Cool" as part of the EDSITEment-reviewed Library of Congress Favorite Poems Project. Pay particular attention to how you read the poem and how the poem is read in the Favorite Poems Project video—what words are emphasized? what kind of rhythm is established?

 

http://www.favoritepoem.org/FlashVideo/ulrich.html

 

A. How Good is Your Memory? – How Well Do You Listen?

First Listening: Listen and watch then answer these questions:

1. What’s the teenager’s name?

2. Where is he from?

3. How old is he?

4. Where does he go to school?

5. How did he describe his family?

6. How many members (he means total siblings) are there in his family?

7. How many sisters?

8. How many brothers?

9. How many years are there between each of them (age-wise)?

 

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Synopsis:

 

Student John Ulrich described his South Boston neighborhood, where, as in other American cities, young people were experiencing the trauma of living in a drug culture. Drugs and despair were causing them to feel hopeless and creating a community frightened for its future. Mr. Ulrich said he had experienced friends committing suicide and dying from heroin overdoses. The poem, "We Real Cool," by Gwendolyn Brooks, helped put into focus the plight of his generation. He and his friends organized a community group to bring hope to the neighborhood.

Source: http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0005/favpoem.html

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Other samples, http://www.favoritepoem.org/videos.html

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/poems/july-dec00/pinsky_12-5.html 

 

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Assignment for 3/23-3/28

 

Individual work:

 

Read to us your chosen poem.  Record your voice, save it as mp3 file, and upload to your blog (you can use your podomatic account). First, tell us the title of the poem, and the person who wrote it. Second, read to us the poem. When you read the poem, read it with passion. Try to feel the words and express its message using vocal variety, tone, and pitch. Third, tell us why you chose it and how the message of the poem is relevant to your personal life. In what way is it meaningful for you? Fourth, read the poem for the last time.  That's it! I look forward to listening to your work!

 

 

 

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Midterm Group Project

 

1. Work in groups of 5.

2. Take a closer look at your country, its people (children, teens, youth, aged, divorced/separated, handicapped), culture, traditions, media, and society in general. Choose one aspect (for example, neighborhood) and describe it.

3. Express your group's opinion about the current situation (of your chosen aspect/topic)). Is there a sign of hope or despair?

4. As a group of young people, how are you influenced by what is going on in your chosen topic?

5. Looking at the information above, choose a poem that has a special connection to what you are describing. In what way is the message of the poem relevant to your chosen topic, and why it is  meaningful for your group?  In what ways do you relate to the message of the poem?

 

Other samples, http://www.favoritepoem.org/videos.html 

Answer key: http://www.eslhome.com/esl/listen/ulrichT.pdf 

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ORAL PRESENTATION GUIDELINES

 

1-2 members should introduce your project before you play the video.  You need to cover the following in 5 minutes:

- introduce the author of the poem

- what is the poem about

- what is your chosen theme or topic (social problem, political, etc.)

- what is the connection between the poem and theme/issues

 

Video presentation: 10 minutes

TOTAL PRESENTATION TIME: 15 minutes