Gwendolyn Brooks Research Paper

Ernest Hemingway, an American novelist, short story writer and journalist, once said, "In order to write about life, you must first live it." The first black author to win the Pulitzer prize, Gwendolyn Brooks, is among the most distinguished African-American poets. Already in love with writing poetry, she first published her poem at the age of 13. Many of her life experiences influenced her work greatly. First of all, Gwendolyn Brooks uses important elements from her childhood and weaves them into her poetry. In Bronzeville, Brooks lived in a kitchenette and, "Only one who has actually lived and suffered in a kitchenette could render the feeling of lonely frustration as well as she does." (Brooks-Motl, "kitchenette building"). After spending much of her young married life in a kitchenette building, Gwendolyn Brooks used the frustration of living in such a small space …show more content…
After graduating from Wilson college, "She briefly worked as a maid and as a secretary for a spiritual charlatan who managed a massive slum tenement known as the Mecca. Brooks later recalled both of these painfully degrading job experiences in her poetry" ("Brooks, Gwendolyn (Vol. 125)"). Having worked for a person who forced the horrible life experiences onto the black community. Gwendolyn Brooks could easily convey the degrading and infuriating experience, into her poetry. Later in her life, Brooks' became more involved in helping others gain their voice, "Gwendolyn did a poetry workshop for a teenage gang in Chicago called the Blackstone Rangers" (Andrea, "Gwendolyn Brooks: Impacting One reader at a time"). Once she spent time helping the Blackstone Rangers to express themselves in writing poetry. This experience inspired her to write a poem about the gang titled, "The Blackstone Rangers". It describes the Blackstone Rangers' lifestyle, and compares the members of the gang to influential civil rights