- In “We Real Cool,” are the sacrifices of individuals worthwhile in bringing social change?
“We real cool” consistently outline the costs that come with leading rebellious lives. While these individuals may lead glamorous lives, they are also constantly in danger due to their behaviors. As a result, it raises the question of whether the sacrifices of these individuals are worthwhile. On one side, it is possible to read the poem as a condemnation of the rebels who suffer due to these behaviors. The individuals in the poem are simply wasting their lives. Instead of getting the appropriate skills, the individuals stay out late, get drunk, and die early, having failed to make an impact (Brooks). However, on the other side, one can also view these consequences as the direct and necessary challenges that arise in the quest for social change. The poem indicates that these are the critical challenges individuals must encounter against social structures to bring social change (Brooks). Thus, the question that arises is, were the sacrifices of these individuals worthwhile?
2. What type of America is the author of “ An American Sunrise” seeking to preserve?
The theme of preservation of culture and rebellion against unwanted change is constant in “An American Sunrise” (“American Sunrise). In the poem, the author seeks to address the plight of the Native Americans, whose cultural identity has been eroded and continues to face extinction at the hands of American nationalism. The author reflects on the struggles of the Native Americans and the resistance of other oppressed cultures in America (Harjo). The poem, therefore, raises a critical question: What does it mean to be an American? What type of America is the author seeking to preserve?
3. What is the similarity between the poem “We real cool” and ” An American Sunrise”?
Rebellion is at the heart of the two poems ” we real cool” and “An American Sunrise.” In the first poem, individuals see rebellion as a tool to go against social structures and bring about social change(Brooks). In contrast, in the latter, rebellion has been used to indicate the opposite, to go against the unwanted change that seems to be taking place and eroding the individuals’ identity (Harjo). Given the analysis of this case, what similarities appear between the two poems? Do the poems address the same or a diverse audience?
The question of what it means to be American has been an interesting and difficult question throughout this course. I think in “American Sunrise”, the preservation of indigenous culture is at the core of the question. Do we consider them American in the same way as people who descend from colonizers or are wholly separate categories necessary? American pride can mean very different things for these two groups. I don’t think I have the positionality to really answer that question, but it’s an interesting thought.
In “We Real Cool,” are the sacrifices of individuals worthwhile in bringing social change?
Maybe they stay out late and get drunk to help themselves cope with the situation because they’re not doing any easy work. Social change is a crucial and excruciating because they have to mobilize the people, attract the media, and convince lawmakers. There are just so many parties you are chasing after trying to please. It’s almost impossible to stay sane the whole time you’re doing so. On top of that, there are oppositions you are trying to stay away from and make sure they don’t hurt you.
What makes people identify themselves as a particular national group is the cultural and historic context in which they live. Isolating a person from that context is rejecting their right to be who they feel they are. Native Americans and descendants of colonizers influenced each other and created the context in which the American nation was born. So answering the question of which America has to be preserved is the one in which no group of people would feel isolated and out of context and would have equal opportunity to influence and to enrich it.
I see the similarity between the two poems at being boiling in anger. An anger that sometimes spills in bubbling froths of rage but most of the time it is steady, it is patient, and it is resentful. Rebellion is such anger overspilling, but as Junhyeok says, it erodes at their identities, becoming less individual people and just a force. Tossed into the pot and left to melt into each other. I think the message could be an awareness that force is needed for change, but being dashed against the rocks is pointless unless it breaks the rocks, and if it doesn’t, you disappear namelessly, like soup eaten and forgotten.
Also sorry if this makes little sense.
I believe the main similarity between both pieces is the use of “we” although it is obvious on the surface it also goes much deeper than I initially realized. When using “we” it is implied their is a collective voice involved. Their is a sense of rage that is felt that makes anyone feel uncomfortable because these poems are not relaying new emotions to the reader. The poems are speaking on ancestral rage and loss of culture and identity, in few words the authors were able to show the festering of a sore like in a raisin in the sun.
In “We Real Cool,” are the sacrifices of individuals worthwhile in bringing social change?
I think with this question in general it really depends on the actions. Sometimes you have to challenge yourself and have failed obstacles. However, in the poem when they describe themselves as getting drunk, and failing it’s important to note the saying, of once you fall you have to get yourself back up. Also, in order to make social change sometimes the sacrifices we have to make is with our own career in order to become an advocate and make “real change”.
“What it means to be an American?” this question itself is enough to make you think for hours. As we live in the current day where millions of people regardless of race, color, religious and cultural beliefs consider themselves as American. But what does it truly symbolize to be an American? I think in this poem, the author raised the question in terms of the indigenous people whose culture and identity are fully wiped out of “American culture” and they are mostly learned from History textbooks. For a long time, being American for many meant to be white. The last question also stood out to me as I found both poems to be quite contradicting as one emphasized the whole social changes over the years yet the other spoke about protecting the heritage.
What type of America is the author of “ An American Sunrise” seeking to preserve?
The “America” the author is seeking to preserve is the pure and innocent America. That means the unmodernized and unindustrialized society before the colonizers came to America. The Native American people were living a more rural and indigenous lifestyle that the colonizers didn’t align with however, this untouched land brought a different perspective to life that the colonizers didnt understand and didn’t want to. This pure and untouched land was the land that the author wanted to preserve.
What type of America is the author of “ An American Sunrise” seeking to preserve?
I believe that it isn’t even “America” that Harjo wants to preserve. I think that they long for a time when there was no “America” and the land belonged to the people. She wants to inspire a new era where that bygone time is not forgotten, but she is fighting the most powerful force in the world.
The teenagers in “We Real Cool” believe rebellion is drinking and playing pool—their protest works against them and contributes to a stereotype that keeps those players oppressed. Joy Harjo weaves Brooks’ poem into her own, but the “we” in “An American Sunrise” seem to be shouting for change; I think both poems speak for their own communities but can and does apply to any minority community that seeks social change.
I believe that these sacrifices are necessary to a certain extent. I believe this because it seems that death, a martyr in this case, happens to be one of the very few ways to bring about actual change. Yes, their lifestyles are questionable as they achieve a different kind of treatment due to their status but these things come with the territory and it should not discredit their movement or message. At the same time though, the part of about them failing to make an impact is true, how could they really go above and beyond if they aren’t alive to carry out their mission. These are two sides of the coin, unfortunate that you can’t have both and dying leaves behind a legacy that people can elect to follow and continue the message but we can’t always control this, so in this regard. such is life.