What literary devices are used in Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "We Real Cool"?

Almost all of the poem is written with monosyllabic lexis, meaning words which are comprised of only one syllable. In fact, there are only four words in the whole poem which have more than one syllable, and all four are in the first stanza. The repetition of this monosyllabic lexis creates a stunted, repetitive rhythm which suggests the vapidity and inanity of the supposed coolness of the "Pool Players."

There is also lots of enjambment in the poem. Enjambment is when one sentence, or clause, runs across two lines. The line "We / Left school" is an example of enjambment, as the line breaks after the word "We." All of the subsequent enjambed sentences in the poem break after the word "We," and this creates a conspicuous pause after that word, emphasizing perhaps the herd mentality of people like the "Pool Players."

Throughout the poem there are lots of internal rhymes. For example, the words "school" and "cool" are internal rhymes in the second stanza, and the words "late" and straight" are internal rhymes in the third stanza. These simple internal rhymes contribute to the aforementioned repetitive rhythm of the poem.

This repetitive rhythm is also created by the parallel syntax in the poem. All of the three-word lines in the poem have the same syntactical structure, whereby the first of the three words is the subject of the sentence, the second of the three words is the verb, and the third of the three words is the noun or the adverb. For example, in the sentence "We Jazz June," the subject of the sentence is "We," the verb is "Jazz," and the noun is "June." This parallel syntax contributes to the repetitive rhythm and also emphasizes the impression of the simplicity and vapidity of the "Pool Players."

What literary devices are used in Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "We Real Cool"?

Besides the devices you've mentioned, this poem makes incredible use of other sound devices such as alliteration (repetition of initial consonant sound), consonance (repetition of final consonant sound), assonance (repetition of vowel sound), slant rhyme (any kind of sound similarity), and rhyme (repetition of all sounds from vowel through end of word).

In line 1, the repetition of the long "e" sound is assonance.  The repetition of the "l" sound at the end of "real" and "cool" is consonance.  "Cool" and "school" rhyme, and if we add the "l" sound at the beginning of "Left" and end of "school" in line 2, we also have slant rhyme.  

In line 3, the "l" sound from "Left" in line 2 is repeated in "Lurk" and "late" for alliteration; "late" in line 3 rhymes with "straight" in line 4, and there is alliteration in line 4 in "Strike" and "straight."

This alliteration is carried to the next line in the words "Sing sin" (line 5); "sin," "Thin," and "gin" all rhyme (lines 5-6).

The "j" sound that begins the word "gin" on line 5 is repeated in the initial "j" sound of the words "Jazz" and "June" on line 7, for alliteration; and then "June" (line 7) and "soon" (line 8) rhyme.  

Obviously, the word "We" is repeated as the last word of all but one line -- epistrophe -- and so all those "We"s are connected to one another via the same sounds.  

Therefore, every single word in the poem is connected, via some sound device, to another word in either the same line, the line above, or the line below, except for the word "Die" in line 8.  This word is sort of floating in a sea of sounds that all have things in common with each other, though this word is untethered to any other nearby, making it stand out.  This line also stands out because it is the only to lack the "We" at the end.  These two major differences in sound help to draw our attention to the irony of the speaker's pride considering the ultimate effects of such a lifestyle.

What literary devices are used in Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "We Real Cool"?

Epistrophy - "we" is the repeated word at the end of the successive clauses. It depends on how you look at it, but I see this as taking emphasis off the "we" and more emphasis on what "we" do.  This gives it somewhat of dark tone with the emphasis on play, sin, die, etc. And taking the emphasis away from the subject "we" conveys a constructed insignificance; in other words, it is as if the perception of the "we" in the poem is one of indifference; the perception of the "we" is tragic but almost nonchalant. 

You also have alliteration (sing sin).  That with the brevity of the poem gives it a kind of nursery rhyme tone. 

This may be a stretch, but it would be interesting to consider this as an enthymeme, which is an informally stated syllogism.  A syllogism would be something like this:

Living is a struggle.

All humans live. 

All humans struggle.

Brook's poem is not a direct or even an indirect syllogism or enthymeme.  But the prosody of it resembles one and if you consider the lifestyle (historical, cultural) of the pool players, you might assume that one thing leads to another (dropping out, drinking, singing sin, dying soon - young). 

What figurative language is used in Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool"?

In this poem, Brooks employs musical devices, figurative language that evokes feeling through the use of certain repeated sounds, in order to emphasize a certain idea or word. For example, the word "We" appears at the end of every single line except the last one. This repetition is called refrain: when a poet repeats words, phrases, or lines as part of a pattern. In a sense, Brooks trains our ear to expect the "We" at the end of each line, and the final line feels more abrupt and cut short (as the lives of these young people are) as a result. (It is important that you read the poem with something of a pause after the "We" at the end of each line, as suggested by the line break, in order to hear this absence.)

Next, there is assonance (the repetition of vowel sounds) in the repetition of the long "e" sound in line 1: we, real, and we. There is consonance (the repetition of the final consonant sound) in the repetition of the "L" sound in lines 1-2: real, cool, school (also, cool and school rhyme). Left, Lurk, and late are alliterative (alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds) due to the repetition of the "L" sound. "Strike straight" is also alliterative, especially if we combine with the next line's "Sing sin" ("S" sound). There is consonance in Lurk and Strike as well ("k" sound). On lines 5-6, sin and Thin and gin rhyme (and because Thin and gin are on the same line, they create internal rhyme). On line 7, "Jazz June" is alliterative ("J" sound), and on lines 7-8, "June" rhymes with "soon." Essentially, then, every word in the poem is connected to another word(s) near it except for the word "Die." In addition to the absence of the "We" at the end of the line, the word "Die" is further emphasized by its lack of musical connection to the words around it. This also helps to reinforce the finality of the meaning of the last line.

What figurative language is used in Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool"?

A series of implied metaphors in this poem are used to emphasise the way in which the group of youngsters, who are portrayed as the speakers in the poem, the "We" who address the reader, as being "cool." These implied metaphors are in turn strengthened by alliteration, which is the repetition of the initial consonant sound. Examples include "We / Sing sin," which suggests that the young men are engaging in some kind of sinful act with their "singing," and "We / Jazz June" likewise creates an image of their intensive dancing and hedonistic enjoyment of life which distracts them from the final sentence of the poem, which points to the way in which there is a cost to such enjoyment of life which cannot be ultimately ignored. Thus, although there are no direct examples of figurative language in the poem, arguably, you can see some of the descriptive details as being implied metaphors in their presentation of the young men. You can't "Sing sin," but it does present them as being characters fully indulging in their vices.

What are three literary devices used in Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool"? What's the theme?

One literary device used in Brooks' poem is punning. Punning is when a word can have more than one meaning. In this poem, the frequently used word "we" can mean either a group of people (you (all) and me) or "whee" as in "what a good time!" This becomes clear if you hear Brooks reading the poem—the "we" at the end of each line is dragged out as if it is the "whee" of flying high on a swing. This alternate meaning of "whee" for we is emphasized by the dropping of the word after the poem's last line "Die soon."

The poem also employs repetition, a literary device used for emphasis, in the repeating of the word "we" at the end of each but the last line.

The poem uses dialect, which is non-standard English. In this case, the words "we real cool" that both name and open the poem are dialect for the standard English usage of "we are really cool" that would be grammatically correct. This shows that these youth are outside of mainstream culture and also can be read ironically: how cool are they, really? Some critics say too that the word "jazz" is a euphemism. A euphemism is polite way of saying something that may not be socially acceptable. In this case, "jazz" means "sex."

The poem is questioning how "cool" it really is to be high school drop-outs who stay out late, drink, and die young, suggesting that perhaps that is not the best path in the long run.

What are three literary devices used in Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool"? What's the theme?

The theme of the short poem by Gwendolyn Brooks is that high school dropouts often feel proud and sure of themselves at first because they are bolstered by their peers, but eventually they will suffer the negative consequences of their choices. In the poem, the jazz-like rhythm and the multiple lines that end in "we" portray the cocky swagger of the seven who "left school." These teens believe they are "cool" as they go about their singing, drinking, dancing, and hanging out. The fact that there are seven of them and the repetition of "we" suggests that they gain their self-image from being part of this group. The last line stands in harsh contrast to the rest of the defiant words; they will pay for their poor choices eventually. The chances of their dying young are high.

Several poetic devices are used in the poem. Consonance is used in "real cool" with the repeated end /l/ sound emphasizing the overconfident attitude of the teens. Examples of alliteration are "lurk late," "strike straight," and "jazz June." The rhymes that occur not in end position but in the penultimate word of each line are an unusual technique. This is paired with another unusual rhyming technique: using identical rhymes at the end of each line except the last. The technique that gives the poem its unique feel is the ironic use of enjambment and caesura. Normally a line that ends without punctuation should be read smoothly to the next line without pausing. This is called enjambment. Caesura is a hard stop in the middle of a line of poetry, which occurs in every line of this poem except the last. However, because of the repeated "we," which is the last word of each line but the beginning of a new sentence, readers are tempted to pause after "we" before going to the next line. This is, in fact, what Brooks intended. (You can listen to her read her own poem at the link below.) Thus the poem defies the rules for reading poetry, just as the seven have defied the rules of society by dropping out of school. Finally, the poem ends with irony. The dire sentence imposed on the seven at the end stands in stark contrast to the lively arrogance they exhibit in the rest of the poem. Having the "we" deliver the prophecy of their own demise is ironic since they probably don't understand or believe those words--at least not yet. 

What are the main images in Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "We Real Cool"?

The images in "We Real Cool" emphasize the conflict between social conformity and youthful rebellion. The first image is that of school. The speakers proclaim that they have left school, which stands as a symbol of conformity, to go play pool at an establishment called the Golden Shovel. For most of the twentieth century, pool halls were often considered disreputable places where smoking, drinking, and criminal behavior were common. The image of a golden shovel is almost an oxymoron, gold being associated with luxury and even the Christian version of heaven (where the streets are often depicted as being paved with gold), and shovels being associated with the graves. This image suggests that the speakers are enjoying the present moment but that it will lead them to their deaths, as foretold by the final lines, "We / Die soon." In fact, it might even suggest that they are digging their own graves via their rebellious behavior.

Despite this foreboding, the poem is packed with lively images: singing and drinking, primarily. These images lend a sense of activity to the poem rather than static contemplation of a setting, person, or object. These lively images also offset the threat of death, suggesting that the speakers prefer a short, nonconformist life to a long one suited to social expectations.