We Real Cool Poetry

One theme of "We Real Cool" might be:

• Friendship

• The Jazz Age

• People feel cool when rebellious

• People die

School is a symbol in the poem. What response best explains the reason?

• The school represents how the boys' lack of education may lead to their deaths.

• The school is where the boys skipped.

• The school kicked them out of classes.

• The boys hated school, and so they left.

Why is the author's diction (word choice) so important in this poem?

• It creates a rhyme.

• It shows a timeline toward a dark end or fate.

• It helps us see why the boys were so rebellious.

• It shows us the theme and symbols.

What is the best reason for why the poet uses the word "we" over and over?

• It demonstrates how she likes repetition.

• It gives us assonance that we can relate to.

• It helps us imagine the boys' collective (shared) thoughts.

• It brings theme into the poem.

Which text evidence best supports the idea that the boys are living a rough life? 

• "We real cool."
• "We Strike straight."
• "We Left school." 
• "We Die soon."

The author's structure of the poem is intended to

• confuse the reader

• create a sing-song rhythm

• offer an alternative to traditional structures of poems

• create internal rhyme

Which words from the poem depict the author's negative perception of the pool players?

• school, late, soon
• lurk, strike, sin, die
• cool, jazz, real
• soon, we

With which of the following quotes would the author most likely agree? 

• You only live once
• All the world's a stage
• Education is only for the elite
• If you live by the sword you die by the sword

Which of the following best describes the poem's tone? Remember tone is the author's attitude toward a subject.

• Laudatory (expressing praise)

• Didactic (teach a lesson)

• Indifferent (unconcerned)

• Melancholy (sad)

What type of figurative language are the green sections?

"We real cool. We left school."

• Consonance

• Alliteration

• Symbolism

• Assonance