Compare And Contrastn Essay
...real poet" by the New York Times (Watkins 2). Growing up on the south side of Chicago, Brooks falls victim to racism, poverty, and a hellish society. Throughout the dreadful ordeal, Brooks remains optimistic about the circumstances and uses them to her advantage. The Chicago native uses her social background and literary talent to capture the attention of her reader through dynamic poetry. Brooks expresses her sincere passion for writing as she states her inspiration. "I wrote about what I saw and heard in the street". "I lived in a small second-floor apartment at the corner, and I could look first on one side and then the other. There was my material (Watkins 1). Brooks' poetry initially communicates compassion, social consciousness, and a deep spiritual meaning. After observing the Second Black Writers' Conference at Fisk University, Brooks realizes the belligerent new generation and veers her poetic spotlight on the African American people and their advancement (Ariel 1, 2). "Sadie and Maud" and "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks are powerful poems that speak of life-altering decisions and their unfortunate consequences. In these two poems, Brooks uses diction, syntax, rhyme, and different points of views in similar yet different ways to teach the reader just how relevant happiness is to life and how making poor life decisions will ultimately lead to a quick demise but may also yield happiness.
The diction Brooks uses in the poems create a realistic atmosphere for the reader. The vivid adjectives and verbs such as "livingest" and "lurk" allow the reader to fully absorb the text and imagine the events as they take place. The narrator tells the reader, "We Real Cool". "We left school" (lines 1-2). From these two lines the reader automatically senses the high level of confidence the speakers have and is lead to believe that the narrators are...
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