A Critical Analysis of “She dwelt among the untrodden ways” by William Wordsworth
A Critical Analysis of “The Pool Players” by Gwendolyn Brooks
The poem entitled “The Pool Players” written by Gwendolyn Brooks
was particularly interesting due to an interplay of three literary elements: the form, the content, and the figurative language used. The current discourse hereby aims to provide a critical analysis of this particular poem using these three elements. Likewise, one would eventually assess how these elements affected one’s response to the poem, in its entirety.
The form was unique since the diction (“the term that describes the use of words in written and oral expression” and style was well-thought of to convey an informal style. The choice of words makes readers understand that the speakers in the poem could possibly be composed of young adolescents who could be school drop outs, as evidenced from the first and second lines: “We real cool. We Left school” . Likewise, the informality was also exhibited through intentional unconventional observance to rules of grammar: “We real cool” . There were just short eight lines and all the lines ended with the word ‘We’; or it could be interpreted as softly confirming the identities of the speakers. In an interview of the author, it was revealed that “the "We"—you're supposed to stop after the "We" and think about their validity, and of course there's no way for you to tell whether it should be said softly or not, I suppose, but I say it rather softly because I want to represent their basic uncertainty, which they don't bother to question every day” (Stavros, 1970, par. 7).
The style was equally distinct; manifesting parallelism to the form which is basically informal. Words both convey denotation and connotations. Most of the words were straightforward and readers could immediately comprehend the meaning. On the other hand, one line could actually exemplify having connotations in terms of stating that: “We Jazz June” ; where June could be interpreted as a name of a girl, rather than implying it as a month. Another point of its uniqueness was placing the word ‘We’ at the end of every line to imply two things: confirmation of the first line said and start of the second line. By putting that word at the end of every line, the author thereby observed specific rhyming pattern.
Finally, the poem used figurative language as an element through well selected and meaningly words such as: lurk late, strike straight, sing sin, thin gin , among others. In their brevity, they provided clear meaning that indicates the reasons why the speakers in the poem alleged their being cool. These choice of words likewise effectively conveyed the author’s message through providing a glimpse of the characters of the speakers and by concluding that living a life that was effectively depicted would eventually lead to an early demise.
The interplay of these elements were crucial in achieving the message that was intended by the author. The first seven lines signified the delivery of a tone that is courageous and even proud for being able to live a life that is rebellious and defies tradition. However, at the last line, readers are made to realize that the intent was to provide a seemingly obvious outcome of such unpretentious conformity to a defiant behavior. In the end, the author effectively relayed that coolness has its ups and downs; and the reader is made to realize that appreciating the lesson earlier could actually assist in living a happy and productive life, as well as to avoid an untimely demise.
References
Brooks, G. (2010). The Pool Players. In R. W. Clugston, Journey into Literature (p. 224). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Clugston, R. (2010). Journey into Literature. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Stavros, G. (1970). On "We Real Cool": An An Interview with Brooks . Retrieved from Contemporary Literature: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brooks/werealcool.htm
