Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Gwendolyn Brooks

After reading some of her background prior to reading the poems it really helped me to better understand the why she wrote the way she did. I suppose in some ways she was probably considered to be an extension of the Harlem Movement writers because she employed some of their techniques as well as her own. For example, she brings in racial status to some of her selections. I found her style to be interesting though because it was as if she was writing about specific situations within the south Chicago community. In the first chosen selection "of DeWitt Williams on his way to Lincoln Cemetery" I got the impression this was maybe written during the boys funeral possession or sometime thereafter or perhaps this could have been some kind of eulogy someone delivered at his funeral as well. Either way I appeared it be a reflection of his life and the places he most frequently visited during his days. I didn't think this poem displayed an racial comments with the exception the reference to the old slave song "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" or maybe that song is always sung at the funerals in African American communities don't know I can't speak from experience. The other selection looked to be written about someone she may have known who's live was cut short in a tragic way. This poem may have been written based on a personal experience.

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