Summary

• Post World War II America features the birth of suburbia, a "baby boom," and the pressure of conformity. People, including writers, desired to define the American experience and create things representing the "American Way."  
• Gwendolyn Brooks was keen on the idea of "group experiences," which is portrayed in "Kitchenette Building" (1945). This poem gives the reader insight into everyday life in Bronzeville, which relates to Hughes' "Visitors of the Blackbelt." The poem discusses the poverty and hardships endured by the citizens of Bronzeville and how they cannot pursue dreams as a result. Brooks seems to imply that dreams are for white people and are almost impossible to satisfy given these circumstances. In "We Real Cool,"(1960), the seven pool players live a life of sin after dropping out of school. We discussed that, by the end of the poem, the players may have come to the realization that their life decisions were not so "cool".
• In contrast to Brooks, Theodore Roethke's poetry is based on personal experiences, referencing his childhood of working in his father's greenhouse. In "Weed Puller,"(1948) we noted the contrast in physical location of the narrator, who is crawling under plant roots, to the flowers, which are blooming above him. This could convey the idea that Roethke's father valued flowers more than his son. "Frau Bauman, Frau Schmidt, and Frau Schwartze"(1948) also refers to Roethke's childhood and references "three ancient ladies". The ladies seem to represent the Fates in Greek Mythology. The ladies perform many actions and seem to be in constant motion. Also, the "picking up, "pinching," and "poking" of the narrator are all actions similar to those directed towards plants, conveying the idea that Roethke was nurtured as the plants were. This portrays an allusion to the Greek Muses, who nurtured and inspired the arts.

Word Count: 299

Passages

• "Even if we were willing to let it in,/Had time to warm it, keep it very clean,/Anticipate a message, let it begin?/We wonder." (lines 8-10, "Kitchenette Building")

This passage from Brooks' describes the failure to develop ambitions and dreams that the tenants of the building face everyday. The "dreams" cannot make it through the fumes of the onions, or the smell of ripening garbage, symbolizing that these characters, probably African Americans, will never rise above being simple tenants. In other words, Brooks is saying that Blacks at this time in America had the right dreams, but not the opportunities to progress and develop them. Also, Brooks' frequent use of the word WE refers to the entire Bronzeville community going through struggles together. This ties back into the idea of the group experience that Brooks is so fond of. 

• "They teased out the seed that the cold kept asleep,--/ All the coils, loops, and whorls./ They trellised the sun; they plotted for more than themselves" (lines 23-25, "Frau Bauman...")

We discussed that the seed the women teased out was Roethke and his poetry. By "plotting for more than themselves," the three women were providing Roethke with material that could be used as inspiration for his poetry. It seems that the phrase, "trellised the sun," could also be seen as "trellised the son" because a trellis supports a plant and helps it grow strong, which is what the women did for Roethke by nurturing him and his poetry.



• "We Sing sin.--/ We Thin gin.--/ We Jazz June.--/ We Die soon." (lines 4-8 "We Real Cool") 

For this poem by Brooks, we discussed its grouping into couplets as well as the alliteration and internal rhyme scheme. This poem contains lots of enjambment in that you move from one line to the next with no ending. The lines are very simple and monosyllabic, which could refer to the characters leaving school. In these last few lines of the poem we discussed the possibility of the characters' realizations of their lives not being so great after all. The pool players are "living the life", so to speak, with no moral values. We discussed how the line "We Jazz June" could be ambiguous for both playing Jazz music in June and having sex with someone named June because the word Jazz can also be used for sex. 

Key Terms

• McCarthy-founded a committee in the Senate that investigated "un-American activities," supported conformity
• Conformity- citizens living in America should act like Americans, creating a "national essence".
• Group Experience- representation of the African American experience in American media as a whole. 
• Jism, Jazz- Contain same root. Jazz=Sex. 
• Enjambment- (in verse) the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.