We Real Cool Analysis

The question that I choose was to discuss the use and effect of sound and sound techniques in the poem, We Real Cool. This poem may be short, but it is full of real world youth problems in today's’ society. The poem seems to be about some young guys just playing pool at the local pool hall. But it is really an outside observer who wonders what these boys may be feeling. She thinks that these boys have dropped out of school and drinking gin while staying out late at night will only shorten their lives. This poem's sound technique provides an understanding of the gang by using rhyme, rhythm and tone. The use of internal and external rhyme in this poem helps to detail the imagery. The use of internal and external rhyme within this poem makes it sound as if it is being sung like a rap song by the seven pool players (Booth, 2006). The internal rhyme begins with the word cool and rhymes with school (Booth, 2006). The external rhyme is obvious, because the first two lines end with, we (Booth, 2006). The external rhyme is throughout the poem except in the last line where it ends with, Die soon (Booth, 2006). The pronouns is what gives the poem it’s tempo and all the words are simple words consisting of a single …show more content…
The repetition of the word we with every sentence along with the rhyming of the final words in the sentences was carefully chosen for their sound effects (Ayeska, 2010). The visual format of the poem causes the reader to pause after each we, creating a rhythm that not only resembles jazz music, but it also sounds like the voices of the young boys who are trying to sound cool (Ayeska, 2010). The offbeat rhythm created by stopping each line with the word we only strengthen the gang mindset throughout the poem (Ayeska, 2010). Along with the rhythm and rhyme of this poem, there is another technical piece of writing with this poem that creates the