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126 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Hills Like White Elephants General Info |
Ernest Hemmingyway published in 1927 Wrote a lot in Europeiceberg method - loved to deliberately leave out information to heighten the unsaid uses simplicity of language to contrast complexity of problem early 1900s spain very catholic region, abortion unheard of |
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Hills Like White Elephants Summary |
limited third person narrative man and girl waiting for a train to take them to Madrid they order beers and argue over the taste of alcohol (everything is bitter)woman comments on landscape like white elephant ironic contrast between fertile woman and barren landscape man wants girl to have the operation, its simple and will make life bettergirl wants to know what happens after operation man says he cares for her, but she says she doesn't care what happens to herself sit separately, man deems girl unreasonable open ending |
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Hills Like White Elephants Themes |
Train station Talking vs communicating White Elephants |
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Hills Like White Elephants Train Station |
to show at the crossroads, not a final destination but a stopping point, passengers must choose where to go i.e. with each other or separately |
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Hills Like White Elephants Talking vs Communicating |
always talking, but through symbols almost code, never actually say what they want |
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Hills Like White Elephants White Elephant |
something sacred, but unwanted, baby, hills resemble but then changes her mind |
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Good People General |
David Foster Wallace published in 2007part of the unfinished novel The Pale King written to update Hills set in religious day US uses complex language to mirror complexity of problem |
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Good People Summary |
seems first person, but is really third person narrator edits himself as if actually talking Lane Jr and girlfriend Sherri talk about Sherri getting an abortion conflict of morality vs practicality Lane Jr questions if he really does love Sherri in story there are two references to the bible that cause intertextualityLane Jr alludes to an ending, but it’s all in his imagination thus ending is open like Hills |
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Good People Themes |
Fear of Hypocrisy Good People |
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Good People Fear of Hypocrisy |
bible references about being a hypocrite, even if abortion or baby out of wedlock is against faith, so hypocrite either way |
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Good People Good People |
what does it mean to be a good person, follow the bible, Lane Jr often compares himself to Sherri because he believes she's a good person |
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Hills vs Good People |
GP everything is internalized: POV, 3rd person narrator, internal monologue In both stories, females take on inferior role in power structure of couple Hills is straightforward and simple, Wallace is more philosophical, energy to read sentences and think (effective for this story, relates to the couple) Both conflicts brought to a question of love |
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Araby General |
James Joyce published in 1914 veiled autobiographical version of his puberty believed so strongly not in Catholicism that wouldn't pray as per his mothers dying requestupset many Irish citizens and the church because it did not portray either very nicely |
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Araby Summary |
young boy, 12/13 infatuated with an older girl, Mangan’s sister told by an adult looking back on his adolescence does everything he can to get her attentionseparates himself from othersgoes to Araby expecting culture but is met with British people and disappointment moment of realization that he was vain to think she could reciprocate feelings Recollective first person narrator (reveals unattractive moments in the past as a kid) |
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Araby Themes |
dissillusionment substitution of religion by sexual desire hypocritical loss of innocence paralysis |
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Araby Dissillusionment |
thinks Mangan’s sister will reciprocate but she is uninterested, thinks Araby will be exotic, thinks he is mature but is really naive and vain |
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Araby Substitution of Religion by Sexual Desire |
refers to her as a chalice when that is the most sacred Catholic symbol, compares his quest for love/lust to the quest for the Holy Grail, he is always physically below her i.e. worships, she mirrors Mary with neck always curved |
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Araby Hypocrisy |
James Joyce was a religious hypocrite expressing beliefs but privately condemning them, priest was a hypocrite with his books |
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Araby Loss of Innocence |
rather watch Mangan’s sister than play with other boys, she becomes both a religious and erotic desire, loses his childish energy |
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Araby Paralysis |
Araby has his desire for Mangan’s sister, puts his plan into motion but when he gets to the bazaar is paralyzed, shows that his life is in paralysis and demonstrates inability to escape routine |
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A Rose for Emily General |
William Faulknerloved using Southern America as setting always has violent acts at the centre/peripheral of the plot southern gothic, his own style at time of setting, civil war had ended and the North had beaten South |
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A Rose for Emily Summary |
Emily is an example of the South’s resistance to change after the civil warshe lived with her father who prevented her from having normal interaction, scared off suitors, etc. due to the oppression of her father and the death of her mother she suffers some sort of psychological disorder starts with her funeral meets Homer and catches his attention buys rat poison Homer disappears at funeral find out she had been sleeping with his dead body story is told in a-chronological order to increase horror narrator is first person plural, probably knows Emily and was close to her because they distinguish themselves at the end |
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A Rose for Emily Themes |
Hamlet North vs South Resistance to Change Death |
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A Rose for Emily Hamlet |
five acts, tragedies, attractive young women turn into killers |
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A Rose for Emily North vs South |
Emily doesn’t want to just to new ways of living, Homer is a Northerner and only a Northerner would sink to the level of courting Emily, Emily is really Jefferson’s last true traditional southerner who has remained unchanged despite the changing city, when Emily dies the last piece of the old South is gone and North has “won” |
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A Rose for Emily Resistance to Change |
Jefferson is in the middle of changing over to Northern ways, torn between modern ideas coming in and tradition (Grierson home and civil war cemetery), Emily refuses to get the metallic numbers attached to her house with modern mail, she refuses to start paying taxes, does not admit to her father’s death, bridal chamber with Homer attempt to freeze time |
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A Rose for Emily Death |
story starts with death of Emily, tells the story of her life which is constantly haunted by death, she is compared to a skeleton meaning she is pretty much dead already, she faces death of the old social order, death of her mother |
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A&P General |
John Updike loved writing about angst and hypocrisy of middle class updated version of Araby wanted to comment on the absurdity that bare shoulders were condemned but nuclear bombs were encouraged - misplaced priorities set in Salem |
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A&P Summary |
Sammy is 19 and past pre-pubescent agegirls in bikinis are shopping in the store he works in and he goggles them outrageous for this age where mini skirts did not yet exist girls get called out by the manager, and Sammy quitshe quits because he wants to be chivalrous, because he wants to make a scene for his unlike boss, and he wants an escape route realizes that his riot impacted no-one and if he doesn’t want to be a hypocrite he’ll have to take a stand for everything |
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A&P Themes |
disillusionment sheep puritanism infatuation |
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A&P Disillusionment |
thinks the girls will view him heroic when he quits, if he quits his life will be changed but really no-one has noticed |
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A&P Sheep |
quits because he wants to differentiate himself from the other sheep, does not want to end up a sheep like Stokesie, but if he wants to be different he will have to keep taking a stand forever |
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A&P Puritanism |
set in Salem where previously witch trials against women, women deemed witches for going against social norms, bikini girls go against social norms, when Sammy supports them he is rebelling against the Puritan ethos at the heart of American culture |
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A&P Infatuation |
Sammy and Stokesie are infatuated with the girls, all men in store attracted to girls, gives girls power over men, girls pretend they don’t know that have everyone infatuated until they’re called out, infatuation also inspires Sammy to quit |
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The Cask of Amontillado General |
Edgar Allen Poe philosophy behind his tales was to create the “single effect” (be able to read in one sitting) he is grandfather of gothic literature uses irony to add to horror loves to incorporate a character flaw that ultimately leads to their downfall in unnamed city in Europe |
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The Cask of Amontillado Summary |
M decided to take revenge against Fortunado at the festival M tells F that he has amontillado (wine) in his cellar to lure F down there M buries F alive in the crypt F is easily trusting of M because of his big ego M cannot be trusted to truthfully tell the story as he is often lying F wears a jester/fool costume and is literally and tragically fooled |
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The Cask of Amontillado Themes |
Appearance vs reality irony aristocracy revenge masquerade |
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The Cask of Amontillado Appearance vs Reality |
celebration/festival above ground while below ground Fortunado is being killed, M appears to have amontillado and be friendly to F while really he's killing him, F appears to be freemason but is not |
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The Cask of Amontillado Irony |
F says how he wont die from a cough and M agrees, F name means fortune but he is not fortunate |
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The Cask of Amontillado Aristocracy |
F is a member of freemasons and aristocracy, country prided itself in lack of monarchy does not like aristocrats, political revenge by killing F
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The Cask of Amontillado Revenge |
personal from M because being hurt 1000 times, personal from Poe against rich industrialized father who abandoned him and would not help save his life
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The Cask of Amontillado Masquerade |
setting is a carnival masquerade, traditionally abandon all social norms, reality suspended another identity assumed, M assumes identity of killer (dark clothes), F assumes identity of fool and gets fooled, M uses the masquerade to fool F |
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The Lady with the Dog General |
Anton Chekhov Russian translation of his famous short story set in 18th century Russia where it was common for men to have mistresses Setting acts as a character because setting reveals the mood, especially of Gustav Third person limited narrator Chekhov often used open endings |
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The Lady with the Dog Summary |
Gurov and Anna meet in Yalta at a resort (known for a place where you pick people up) Gurov is unhappy with wife and has had numerous love affairs The two sleep together and Anna is scared Gurov will lose respect for herWhen Anna has to go home to her sick husband, Gurov finds he can’t stop thinking about her Gurov goes and finds Anna in her city at an opera and confesses his love for her, she reciprocates Open ending, do not know if the couple finds a way to stay together |
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The Lady with the Dog Themes |
Love Scared vs Profane Transcendental Moment Dissatisfaction |
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The Lady with the Dog Love |
is it real love or just a fantasy, does the forbiddenness make it more desirable, is Anna making another mistake like her first marriage, Gurov thinks constantly about Anna for the first time for him which alludes love, love brings a promise and hope for something better
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The Lady with the Dog Sacred vs Profane |
Micrea Eliade, make something sacred and put it above others (cross) vs mundane ordinary objects, have made their relationship sacred but does it need to be |
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The Lady with the Dog Transcendental Moment |
Ernst Cassier, moment when private self becomes public self, when Gurov professes his love is he finally being himself |
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The Lady with the Dog Dissatisfaction |
Gurov is dissatisfiedwith his wife, work, home, and Anna is dissatisfied with her husband and life, dissatisfaction with their own lives brings them together, plot questions whether love or sex can cure this dissatisfaction |
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Cathedral General |
Raymond CarverDied of cancer after excessive drinking and smoking When this story was originally written it was critiqued as too detailed and edited to less than 1/2 of original length “K-Mart fiction” characters are good people but not well off, undereducated, working class Has a simplistic style here and uses anaphora |
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Cathedral Summary |
Man and wife Wife is very close to blind man (even wrote a poem about him), and the man is jealous of that close emotional relationship that he himself does not possess with anyone else Belittles his wife and her poems, believes there are better things to do He confesses to prejudice against blind man based on stereotypes After wife goes to bed two men get stoned and end up drawing a cathedral together on the floor Weed acts as a social lubricant Transformation of attitude - man realizes blind people do everything sighted people do Narrator learns there is more to life than meets the eye, epiphany He has a moment of deity where he rises above the banality of his own existence and appreciates life of the other person |
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Cathedral Themes |
Cathedral Looking vs Seeing Understanding through Art |
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Cathedral Cathedral |
it is a place where sacred things happen, climax is drawing of cathedral, narrator shares this religious moment and enters the sacred realm from the profane, this emotional contact transcends that which he has with his wife, helps the narrator understand that looking isn’t always seeing, momentarily gives us somethings greater to believe in |
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Cathedral Looking vs Seeing |
looking is a physical act but seeing requires a greater level of engagement, at the start the narrator only looks and judges things from appearance, Robert may be unable to look but he can see the wife better than the narrator, true seeing requires a lot more than looking |
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Cathedral Understanding through Art |
the wife gains insight into her life through poetry which the narrator doesn’t understand, later in the story the narrator and Robert gain insight through drawing and the narrator learns that looking inward (“seeing”) provides greater knowledge, when the narrator retells the story it helps him make sense of his experience |
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The Yellow Wallpaper General |
Charlotte Perkins Gilman Grandmother of feminist movement in literature Chooses a stylistic differentiation (diary) Important because it is a lot more revealing and personal Based on her own personal experience after being prescribed a rest cure from her own doctor Rest cure was given to a lot of women at the end of 19th century to start of 20th, and if that failed women were institutionalized Would also give hysterectomy because the “womb could be the root of the problem” Or sometimes doctor would purposely orgasm women to alleviate |
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The Yellow Wallpaper Summary |
Beings as obedient wife Is sick, but husband belittles her illness Progression from rational acceptance to irrational defiance Driven angry by oppression and prejudice towards women, as well as depression Recently has baby, some depression from baby blues, no place for her as an artist Husband has decided its best for her not to write, maybe this has led to exhaustion in the past Men create, women inspire Begins her secret journal as a way to relieve her mind However at the end she openly defies, and loses all contact with reality, doesn’t even recognize husband at the end She never liked the wallpaper and it transforms from ugly to menacing to something that she is fond/obsessed Obsession leads her to believe a woman is trapped in the wallpaper, creeping in the day and shaking the bars at night She resolves to tear off all the paper to free the woman, but in this becomes insane and believes she is the woman in the wallpaper |
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The Yellow Wallpaper Themes |
Wallpaper Women in Society Resting Cure Journal |
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The Yellow Wallpaper Wallpaper |
put up to make walls look pretty, cover plaster and structure underneath, metaphor for all devices used to keep women imprisoned in their own space, women and trapped and trying to scratch themselves out, also domestic symbol, used to show the horror of domestic life |
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The Yellow Wallpaper Women in Society |
domestic functions of females vs active of males, women are second class citizens, because John believe he is superior he patronizes his wife instead of helping her, the gender division keeps women in a childish state of ignorance and helplessness |
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The Yellow Wallpaper Resting Cure |
demonstrates how anxiety is made worse by inactivity, she is infantilized and unable to express herself to loses it |
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The Yellow Wallpaper Journal |
able to see progression of insanity from inside and outside, first person is important for the understanding of the woman in the walls, provides a sense of intimacy and urgency, especially when her writing is interrupted by John or Jennie |
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Sonny’s Blues General |
James Baldwin Was black and gay, thus felt out of place Often writes about systemic racism In time period civil rights bill has not been passed yet Drugs were large part of the culture Takes place in Harlem |
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Sonny’s Blues Summary |
Story begins in “medias res” (middle) and works in serpentine chronologyMakes it more intimate as we feel like he’s right here telling the story Narrator reads a newspaper and discovers his brother’s arrest The narrator does not write to Sonny until his daughter Grace dies After this the brothers stay in communication until Sonny’s release The narrator flashes back to Sonny’s past, all the trouble he used to be At first narrator is unable to understand Sonny’s choices Both victims of systemic racism, but cope differently Narrator uses education, stable job and family to cope Sonny cannot cope so pursues music and heroin to to deal After watching Sonny play he understands his way of life Music has brought them together and helped to cope, given them peace |
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Sonny’s Blues Themes |
Suffering Imprisonment Brothers Light/Dark Imagery |
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Sonny’s Blues Suffering |
there’s no correct way to suffer, everyone copes the best way they can, story of suffering is always the same, but the way you tell your suffering is how you cope, even narrator’s students are filled with rage at their limited opportunities, rage is turned against self and leads to dark life, everyone in Harlem is angry, fury is fuelled by desperation and desire and narrator realizes best expressed through music |
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Sonny’s Blues Imprisonment |
trapped physically and emotionally, always another barrier to break, Sonny physically imprisoned by jail and drug addiction, narrator confined to Harlem, and trapped within himself unable to express fully emotions |
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Sonny’s Blues Brothers |
obligated to love your brother, mom asks narrator to watch over Sonny, Harlem is plagued by drugs and poverty so members of community must protect each other |
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Sonny’s Blues Light/Dark Imagery |
Sonny’s face in childhood with light, warmth of sitting with adults after church, light is salvation and grace, darkness is fear and desolation that threatens to extinguish comfort |
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Haikus General |
Very popular in 16th/17th century Japan Monks and buddhists would leave their families at age 10 and live in monasteries Try to obtain peace and enlightenment |
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Haikus Summary |
The temple bell stops, But the sound, Keeps coming out of the flowers Human/hard (bell) vs nature/soft (flowers) |
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Haikus Themes |
Fusion of sight, sound and smell (synaesthesia) Ying Yang - governs core of universe (light and dark), symbol and a philosophy |
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In a Station of the Metro General |
Ezra Pound He left Pennsylvania and went to London Came up with imagism Should be ten lines or less and present images as a photograph would Defines an image as an intellectual and emotional couple in an instant of time Cut down original 36 lines to only 2 Set in Paris Metro station Free verse to be more of an image than a poem |
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In a Station of the Metro Summary |
Struck by all these beautiful faces Connects faces to petals (makes a juxtaposition) they are soft, delicate, individualistic, beautiful, various colours Not just faces but an apparition of them Gas lamps, train comes in with lots and lots of windows, reflections on windows give apparition like appearance Also apparition because sudden manifestation and disappearance Wet black boughs like tunnel system, dark and damp Dark branch makes easier to see faces/petals with the contrast |
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In a Station of the Metro Themes |
Versions of reality Man and nature Simplicity |
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In a Station of the Metro Versions of Reality |
two images blended together, reality of everyday life an apparition |
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In a Station of the Metro Man and Nature |
people literally become nature |
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In a Station of the Metro Simplicity |
beauty can be captured with simplicity, makes it more like an image |
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The Red Wheelbarrow General |
William Carlos Williams Wasn’t intended to be an imagist poem Three words first line and one word second No punctuation except period at end and no capitalization All of the second lines create an image, given more significance because isolated |
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The Red Wheelbarrow Summary |
A red wheelbarrow sits glazed with rain water beside the white chickens Heavy words (so much depends) used to emphasize the gravity Word red is used to stand out against the more neutral setting |
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The Red Wheelbarrow Themes |
beauty in the ordinary glazed |
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The Red Wheelbarrow Beauty in the Ordinary |
extraordinary within the ordinary, so much depends on the way we look at things |
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The Red Wheelbarrow Glazed |
stands out because it’s decorative, indicates that what the poet sees is more like an artifact than an everyday object |
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The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter General |
Ezra Pound Liked to put foreign ideas into his writing Based off another poem that he didn’t like so rewrote |
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The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter Summary |
Speaker is not the poet, but a lonely housewife who misses her husband Married a river merchant who is often away for months at a time Writes him a letter recalling memories Started off as a resented arranged marriage at age 14, until falls in love He becomes her lord Misses him so much she’ll come meet him indicating desperation Everything in the setting reflects the sadness |
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The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter Themes |
gate butterflies love |
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The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter Gate |
first she sat at the gate as a naive child picking flowers, now the gate represents something overgrown, love is complicated, always watched the gate to see if he’ll return |
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The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter Butterflies |
are paired and emphasize that her partner is gone |
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The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter Love |
we hear how the speaker falls in love and her love survives her through his absences, the love is not immediate but grows strong |
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My Papa’s Waltz General |
Theodore Roethke Father owned a greenhouse so son worked there often Hard work, but surrounded by beauty Also exposed to constant death (plants) Did not take over family business but went to uni Suffered from bipolar Uses iambic trimeter to imitate the sound/rhythm of a waltz |
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My Papa’s Waltz Summary |
Comes from the relationship he had with his father/papa Written at age 40 as a reminiscence The nightly routine of papa’s few sips of whiskey, then they dance, then off to bed Mother disapproved but as part of the routine Dance disturbs her domain (kitchen) Contact was physical and rough, but not child abuse, boy takes blame His right ear scraped a buckle, vs the buckle scraped him |
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My Papa’s Waltz Themes |
Waltz/Relationship Admiration |
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My Papa’s Waltz Waltz/Relationship |
the waltz is a metaphor for the father/son relationship, it is not easy, dances between love and fear |
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My Papa’s Waltz Admiration |
boy clearly admires his father as it is not easy, holds on like death, gets ear scraped, music beat on head, but still he does it and he looks up to dad |
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Slim Cunning Hands General |
Walter de la Mare 4 lines (quatrain) 2 rhyming couplets Syntax is important |
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Slim Cunning Hands Summary |
Slim hands could mean he’s remembering her hands or they’re a symbol on the tomb Cunning hands starts to criticize the dead person Cunning gets the better of someone Deceiving eyes also not flattering Too wildly loved could mean by him or others Then describes her beauty as fairer than all earth’s flowers Speaker resents the woman, a lover? Stereotype of female as beautiful but fake/mean |
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Slim Cunning Hands Themes |
Unrequited/undeserving love Love complaint |
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Slim Cunning Hands Unrequited Love |
the dead woman did not deserve all the love she got, yet the man still loved her but was resentful, did not care for him as much as he cared for her |
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Slim Cunning Hands Love Complaint |
traditionally says that women cannot be both fair (lovely/pretty) and fair (just/truthful/loyal) |
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My Last Duchess General |
Robert Browning Wrote Pied Piper Takes place in Italian City Based off an alleged story from 16th century |
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My Last Duchess Summary |
Duke of Ferrara negotiating with servant for hand of count’s niece The last duchess is dead and was not special Her painting is covered by a curtain, but he shows the messenger Clearly many other interviews for other duchesses before Comments on her happy look that she gives it to everyone not just Duke Duke was jealous that he wasn’t the only source of her happiness Lists off things about last duchess he hated Duchess should just know how he feels Tradition of training a new duchess or disappearing Neptune training a seahorse is a metaphor |
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My Last Duchess Themes |
Jealousy Power communication Art |
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My Last Duchess Jealousy |
the duke is unable to control his jealousy, wants to be the only source of his wife’s happiness, prevents him from communicating the problem and causes him to kill |
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My Last Duchess Power |
social power of Duke to marry whoever he wants and get rid of them when he’s done, joy threatens his tyranny |
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My Last Duchess Communication |
backs up the power, chooses not to communicate with last duchess because she should respect his power and already know, to servant reveals his cycle and wifely wishes |
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My Last Duchess Art |
a way to demonstrate power and social class, Neptune taming the seahorse, the portraits of dead wives |
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Death of a Young Son by Drowning General |
Margaret Atwood First became a well known poet and then short story writer Won countless awards Father was a biologist and nature is central to much of her writing |
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Death of a Young Son by Drowning Summary |
Speaker is Suzanna Moode, an immigrant who lost her child The child was successful, a deep sea diver that drowned and tragically became a part of nature She was using him to make her sacred place, had great hopes and dreams for him Water was by a logging site, playing on logs and fell in and drowned? Mother is devastated, most accept that life goes on The rock once thought to ground them turned into a boulder of her child slipping into water |
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Death of a Young Son by Drowning Themes |
Nature Death |
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Death of a Young Son by Drowning Nature |
is indifferent, goes on whether you’re ready or not |
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Death of a Young Son by Drowning Death |
son dies, but so do his mother’s hopes and dreams for him and her happiness |
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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening General |
Robert Frost Was depressed but acted happy, similar to face value of poem Four stanzas almost identical with ABAB rhyme scheme except for the fourth stanza |
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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Summary |
Speaker is stopping by woods on a snowy evening and admiring the near silence Wants to stay longer but knows they have obligations Also must travel farther back before nightfall Entranced by the depth and darkness of woods Has too much to do before sleep/death Conflict between attraction to depth of woods and responsibilities ouside |
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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Themes |
Nature and speaker Isolation |
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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Nature and Speaker |
encounter between speaker and woods, lull of woods and desire to sleep, torn between returning to warmth and letting himself freeze in the woods, gives the realization that there are too many obligations in the real world to disappear |
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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Isolation |
the woods are on the edge of civilization, they draw you away from society, the speaker wanders alone, is glad to be by himself and prefers it |
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The Second Coming General |
W. B. Yeats IrishActivist and politician Written in response to WW1, Irish troubles and the breakdown of the social fabrication of society Believed takes 2000 years for history to come close |
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The Second Coming Summary |
The falcon turns into a widening gyre and cannot hear the falconer Anarchy is loosed on the world, the best people lack all conviction and the worst are intense The world must be near a revelation, a second coming because of all this violence The speaker imagines a sphinx in the desert, that a mythical creature will fulfill the prophecy He wonders what beast will arrive at Bethlehem to be born and commence the Second Coming |
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The Second Coming Themes |
Good vs. Evil |
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The Second Coming Good vs Evil |
are the good people still good even when they lack conviction and action, in WW1 there was no good and bad because everyone was fighting, can good and evil be so easily defined, the Sphinx is indifferent |
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We Real Cool General |
Gwendolyn BrooksChicago 1960s 5 years after WW2 Was the first black poet to win the Pulitzer prize Addressed predicament of African American males who have left schools and have no future Form is reflection of context We followed by empty space simulates blankness of their futures Persona is woman adopting voice of young man |
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We Real Cool Summary |
Young guys playing pool at a pool house Pool house is called “Golden Shovel” as many african americans were ditch diggers or shovel for digging own grave, and golden is ironic They are at the pool house to look cool Boys may have dropped out of school, drink gin, stay out late, enjoy jazz, die young Thin gin - break into liquor store and steal gin to water it down and sell |
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We Real Cool Themes |
Identity Pride We Die Soon |
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We Real Cool Identity |
identified as we, so have a group identity, also want to be identified by their rebellious actions |
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We Real Cool Pride |
the boys take pride in their reckless behaviour, they believe they are cool, arrogant |
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We Real Cool We Die Soon |
are they going to die because of their reckless behaviour, do they think that’s honourable in a society with so few opportunities, or are they living life as though they might die soon (to the fullest), die at the hands of oppressive system, or of the other criminal African Americans |
