dying soon. But, Brooks herself writes with anon-judgmental attitude; instead, she lets the readers form their own opinions of the boys based on their rebellious attitude that leads only to "Die soon."

One of the most dominant attitudes in Brooks's poem is the lack of hope in the lives of those who are might see themselves as "cool."  Brooks speaks to how there is an attitude of sadness in those who live the life of supposedly being "cool:"  “The WEs in ’We Real Cool’ are tiny, wispy weakly argumentative ’Kilroy-is-here’ announcements. The boys have no accented sense of themselves, yet they are aware of a semi-defined personal importance. Say the ’We’ softly.”  The attitude that emerges in the poem is a sense of loss and displacement.  The supposed strength is fraudulent and reflective of weakness.  

It is an attitude that speaks strongly and speaks with a sense of purpose and defiance.  However, it is also an attitude that showcases a weakened condition of being in the world.  Lives being short, direction absent, and a sense of hurry to what constitutes being in the world are the attitudes that emerge in the poem.  Brooks's poem articulates an attitude of hopelessness that is intrinsic to alienated youth.  It is an attitude that showcases the “basic uncertainty” that young people experience in the modern setting.  This becomes the dominant attitude in the poem and helps to shape how young people can be perceived in a world where such voice is difficult to hear.

It is of course possible for any work of literature to have two tones or more, depending on its length and content. I think it is fair to say that, thinking about this excellent poem, that there are two tones that we can pick out. The defiance and arrogance of the speaker at the beginning of the poem is characterised by such lines as:

We real cool. We
Left school...

The speaker obviously feels proud of the way he has left school and is engaged in various activities like "singing sin" and "lurking late" and this is an impression that is reinforced by the alliteration used throughout the poem. However, the very last line, with the way that the enjambment emphasises the word "die," adds a sad, sombre tone as the speaker realises the results of the kind of "cool" lifestyle he has chosen.

Since the characters in this poem are not directly stated, I would assume from the context clues that the characters are students in school. They are most likely older, in high school since it says "we thin gin."

I would also assume that the students are somewhat "rebels" since they left school and are getting into things they should not get into. They think they are being "cool" by doing this. I would also think this because it says "we lurk late" which means they are out all hours of the night. "we jazz June" means they probably like to party.

The students' attitude in this poem shows that they are also pretty careless. They don't seem to care about their actions and what will happen to them since it says "we die soon."

"We Real Cool," by Gwendolyn Brooks, is about seven teenage boys who have left school to spend their time playing pool.

The boys brag that they "lurk late," "sing sin" and "thin gin."

They also celebrate that they "Jazz June."  This phrase has become controversial, but Brooks herself has explained that she chose the month of June as a symbol of "the establishment," the accepted way of doing things.  By saying that they "jazz June," the boys are saying that just like jazz musicians take liberties with standard melodies, they take liberties with the standard, conventional way of doing things.

The poet, however, does not seem to approve of the boys' abandonment of education.  She ends her poem with the sentence, "We / Die soon."  The poet is saying that the boys' "freedom" from education and healthy living will not have a happy ending.