1. 1. Books of Brooks Poems Brittney Moreno, Alex Moreno, Adee Peer, Kalyani Aboud, Megan Nakamae, Bella Verdugo Block 4 4/29/14
2. 2. Specific Work All Summer in a Day tells a story of a nine year old girl named Margot. Her, along with other children, live on Venus, where it rains every day for seven years straight. The rain stops only for two hours out of the seven years, and the sun has its chance to shine down on the people of Venus. Margot knows about the sun because she lived on Earth five years before moving to Venus. She tells the other kids what the sun is like but they do not believe her. To put her down, they lock her in the closet. The sun comes out not too long after and the kids are overjoyed with the suns brightness. Everything that Margot told them the sun would be like is true. That is when they realize that she is still in the closet. Bradbury, Ray. "All Summer in a Day." EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
3. 3. Brooks, author of Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress Toward, describes four kinds of negative people. He writes, down-keepers, sun-slappers, self-soilers, and harmony-hushers (Brooks). Each one of these people is a master in the degree of negativity. There are the putter-downs, the gloomy people, those who put themselves down, and the problem causer. He writes that when coming across these kind of people, tell them to be happy and that life is too short to not enjoy it. Brooks gives the message that though you are not ready to accept the bright and happy things in life, you cannot always be negative. Brooks, Gwendolyn. "Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress Toward."PoemHunter. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
4. 4. The poem starts off with a girl named Sadie and another named Maud. Sadie defies all standards that are ideal during this time period (the 40s). Sadie, being African American, is already looked down upon. The birth of her two new children forces an even bigger judgement on her by society; especially without a father. She puts herself along with her family into shame with all this going on. Despite all these things, she is happy. On the other hand, Maud follows societys rules. She goes off to college and is successful in the eyes of her parents and people around her. Though she is well educated and meets standards, she lacks happiness in life. Maud conforms to society but that does not guarantee a joyous life. "Sadie and Maud by Gwendolyn Brooks." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
5. 5. We Real Cool gives the thoughts or perspectives of the young men playing pool. They think of themselves as high in social totem pole. They describe how cool they are by listing off the things they do or have done. They say the mischievous tasks they do that affect their lives negatively such as dropping out of school or doing things they shouldnt be at night. In the end, these seven young men die young. Karma. "We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
6. 6. Relation to Post-Modernism How does your particular work reflect the characteristics of post-modern American literature? Sadie and Maud: The poem is a paradox. The 2 characters are opposites, meaning that one was more successful than the other. Maud went to college while Sadie stayed at home dealing with hair care. Speech to the Young: It is similar to the ideas of post WWII. After WWII, people were striving for equality among the people, as well as just enjoying life. Brooke states this in the poem that we need to live life to the fullest and that we need to cherish the present. The poem was aimed toward African Americans. We Real Cool: This poem is also a paradox because the 7 boys are calling themselves lucky, when in reality, they do not have an education(they skip school) and do illegal activity. The number 7 is supposed to be lucky. The boys are assumed to be members of a gang and therefore need to rely on luck. This poem contradicts itself.
7. 7. Comparing Works Brooks poem Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward compares to Bradburys All Summer in a Day. Brooks advises the youth who she is writing to to live in the moment, not to hold on to the past or hope for the future but to enjoy the day. In the story All Summer in a Day, the kids are ecstatic about the sun making an appearance. Although they do look forward to this moment before it happens, when it does take place, they run around and embrace the sun until it goes away again.
8. 8. Influence Brooks was influenced by the civil rights oppression that was current in the 60s. She being an African American, had a huge struggle with all the segregation and the prevalent racism. There was a strive for equal education and equal independence. In her poem Sadie and Maud Maud is considered successful because she attended college, however, since she does not have a kids like Saide she is unsuccessful. The Saide on the other hand has two babies and no education. Yet she is also considered a failure. During the civil rights movement the schools were segregated. The colored schools were not as good as the white schools due to lack of materials, teachers, and funding. A big struggle for the African American population was integrating colored schools and white schools together. So that everyone was equal and had an equal education. This was demonstrated when Maud went to college. This was difficult for an African American woman in the 60s era to attend and graduate college. However, since the beginning of time it has always been expected of women to raise a family. While Sadie has a family by herself. Back then both were unheard of. The whole point of civil rights is so that everyone can be equal; That it shouldnt matter what color your skin is to get a good education and that it shouldnt matter what gender you are to be independent. With both rights exemplified in this poem, thus, Brooks was influenced by the civil rights movement.
9. 9. using the applied characteristics, the relevant analysis on concrete evidence used to support your information, and the relating work(s), develop a statement that provides a summative conclusion - the overall so what statement. In Sadie and Maud it reflects the different paths peoples lives go through from the choices made. Sadie had children but never got an education. Maud had an education but she was alone, she had no family of her own. This story makes it a point to question whether we can have both, family and education. Can we have both? In Speech to the Young it talks about the children, more specifically the children who do not want to grow up. You cant avoid it, might as well embrace it. In We Real Cool two boys consider themselves lucky even though they are wasting their lives by not going to school and being in a gang. Even if its your opinion what you're doing is cool, doesn't necessarily mean it is. Even though you may think you're lucky for having a good life doesn't
10. 10. Thank you for your interest in this presentation.