HW 34 - The Cool Pose and Various Approaches to Life Rooted in Class, Race, Gender, Age, etc.

The poem We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks addresses the very generally known term of what is to be cool. As a reader of this poem I interpret it as being directed to teenagers who are very easily influenced at that point of their lives. I know this because the poem says "we real cool. We left School", which reminds me of the usual phrase, "we are too cool for school". In other words this poem written by an African American suggests that those who consider themselves as cool so not need an education, and as a consequence they will not have a quite promising future.

The article "A poverty of the mind" by Orlando Patterson discusses how an individual's race can impact that individual life choices. It mostly focuses on the African American culture in the United States. According to this article many African Americans do poor in school and have children while being unemployed at a very early stage of their lives. The author argues that this is due the poor economy since the 90's. He is certain that economy has an effect on culture.