"We Real Cool"

In his poem "We Real Cool" Gwendolyn Brooks uses the denotation "we" in an alliterative form throughout the poem. The speaker uses this denotation"we" to signify a group of friends or gang of students. Indicated from the begining of the poem "We real cool/We left school" (Brooks l. 1-2), shows the literal meaning of "we" and the repetition of that sound. In the first stanza, the speaker uses "We real cool"in a connotative way because considering the literal meaning of the word "cool" it signifies something good, calm or pleasant, but in this case, the word referred to the reckless life of teenagers without thinking about the outcome of such lifestyles. For instance, the second stanza of the poem "We Left School" indicates how careless teenagers could be, forgoing their education and leaving school with their friends chilling around without considering the foundation they are laying for themselves. Also, the speaker used the last stanza"We Die soon" in a connotative way to signify how their behavior will affect them individually, but not the literal meaning of dieing soon. Sometimes one might think that, if a group of people do something wrong, they all pay for it or it affects them in similar manner. This is not always the case, some of these people can change and go back to school and some will remain drop outs for life. One can even get pregnant and become a mother or a father unprepared which can shatter their dreams for life. some of these teens even loos their lives through drink driving and all sorts of indecent behaviors. Brooks used this poem to show where groups, gangs and friends can lead us to.