Gwendolyn Brooks

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A Presentation by Brianna Ward, Felicity Daily, Kayla Brown, Kazi Mahmud, and Kenny Lok

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Gwendolyn Brooks. A Presentation by Brianna Ward, Felicity Daily, Kayla Brown, Kazi Mahmud, and Kenny Lok. Her Biography. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of Gwendolyn Brooks

Page 1: Gwendolyn Brooks

A Presentation by Brianna Ward, Felicity Daily, Kayla Brown, Kazi Mahmud, and Kenny

Lok

Page 2: Gwendolyn Brooks

Her Biography Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas on June 7, 1917. She came to Chicago with her family at age six during the Great Migration. She went to three high schools during her time: The Prestigious, Integrated Hyde Park High School, and The All-Black Wendell Phillips Academy High School. During her high school years she experience racial discrimination, which also motivated her to write poems. In 1936, she graduated from Wilson Junior College. She began writing and publishing as an adolescent and won many awards. In 1950, she became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize, for her book Annie Allen. She said "I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it and experiencing the challenge.“ She soon married Henry Lowington Blakely Jr. in 1939. The couple had two children, Henry and Nora. “Gwendolyn Brooks died of cancer on December 3, 2000, at the age of 83, at her home in Chicago, Illinois. She remained a resident of Chicago's South Side until her death. She is buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.”

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Her Time Period (1917-2000) Gwendolyn Brooks loved writing since she was at a young age. Her first poem was published at the age of 13. That's younger than everyone in this classroom. At age 16, she had already published around 75 poems. Besides being a poet, she was a secretary to support herself. During this time, she would spend her free time at poetry workshops to become better. A few years later in 1945, she published her first book "A Street in Bronzeville." As years passed by, she wrote more and more books and published more and more poems until she died. She has become well known for her works of literature. 

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Her WorksMother We Real Cool

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Analysis This poem is about the guilt that is felt by a woman who has undergoneone or more abortions. She begins from a general point of view andspeaks about how the mothers will miss the opportunity and pleasure ofraising their own children. She then transfers to her personal experience.She says that she has heard their voices and seen their faces in herdreams. She regrets how she took their lives. At one point, she beginsto make excuses for herself but then comes to realize that they allfail. The only way she can think to make up for what she has done isby telling them that she loves "them all." But her guilt still stayswith her. Expressing her love and confessing her guilt and wrongdoingis the only was to get partial relief from what she has done.The poem uses rhyme and rhythm to create an effect on the reader.

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Our Original Works

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Our Original Works (cont.)

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Works Cited

"Gwendolyn Brooks Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 05 June 2013.

"The Mother by Gwendolyn Brooks - Critical Analysis." The Mother : Gwendolyn Brooks - Summary and Critical Analysis. Web. 05 June 2013.

Glover, Jasmine. "Gwendolyn Brooks." Prezi.com. Web. 05 June 2013.

"We Real Cool." Poetry 94.6 (1959): 373. JSTOR. Web. 05 June 2013.