"We Real Cool"

The word choice in the poem "We Real Cool" is very significant to how the reader perceives the people the speaker is talking about. Gwendolyn Brooks uses short phrases in order to emphasize the groups illiteracy. The group talked about in the poem think they are cool because they break the rules in their society. Brooks uses words like lurk, sin, and gin which all imply the wild life the group is partaking in. The word we is very important in this story. If this had been about just one person maybe they wouldn't have decided to do all the things the group does. The word we symbolizes the strong bond within the group. They are having so much fun breaking all the rules but in the end their lives will stop. In the last stanza Brooks says "We Die soon." (Brooks l. 7-8) The speaker leaves readers to wonder as to whether the group physically dies or if their partying life comes to an end.