The Poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks and Her Contribution to American Heritage

The poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks, which was influenced by her personal background and by the Harlem Renaissance literary period, has contributed to the American Literary Heritage. Ms. Brooks works are truly amazing. They have very profound meanings ahd you have to truly understand her writings to understand their meanings. Ms. Brooks illuminated the black experience througn her poetry. ''I wrote about what I saw and heard in the street, '' Ms. Brooks once said. ''I lived in a small second-floor apartment at the corner, and I could look first on one side and then the other. There was my material.’’ (Gwendolyn Brooks).

Since the beginning, Ms. Brooks poetry was influenced by a personal background. Her poetry was influenced by what she heard or saw, a little bit of feminism, and by the the entire African American population in general. Ms. Brooks wrote about being black and the many hardships we go through. Her poetry was based off of her views of society. Ms. Brooks sat in her apartment that was similar to a kitchenette and wrote about anything that influenced her really. Furthermore, Some of her poetry came from herpast. Her experience turned into the most indelible poems ever. Ms. Brooks is an incredible poet; her views, her thoughts, her imagination, and her creativitis spectacular. Her observations turned into masterpieces. Even beans inspired one of her poems, that truly takes talent. It's like everything she touched turned into gold. One of the things that influenced one of her poems was her small apartment that was like a kitchenette. Even her insecurities influenced her poetry. She has this one poem that will make you feel better about yourself. A lot of personal events influenced her poetry. Next, A variety of events influenced Ms. Brooks poems. Some of her poetry was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic explosion and upcoming for black people. Ms. Brooks wrote poems on the many hardships of being black during the Harlem Renaissance.

The violence took place in a few of her poems. The obstacles of being a female were even written about. Even justice was mentioned. Also coming into reality was another thing. In addition, some of the poetry that reflects the theme of that was the book “A street in Bronzeville”. “We real cool”, “The Bean Eaters”, and “The Kitchenette” are also others. These poems often expressed struggle and hard times. The poem “We real cool”, is about people who don't know who they really are. They are lost and are trying to find themselves. They are uncertain and that is why they use the term “we”. They are confused, but instead of trying to find themselves they blend in with others like them. In like manner, the poem “ Bean Eaters” is about two old people eating a meal of just beans and reminiscing. They are just looking around their house and thinking about the old times. “The Kitchenette Building” is about a woman who starts daydreaming but quickly stops herself. To her dreams are too extravagant for her simple lifestyle. To her, dreams are bittersweet but impractical things. Why dream of useless things like that when you could dream of getting to use hot water. Her poems tell stories. These poems tell the stories of the Harlem Renaissance.

Gwendolyn Brooks

Brooks was a big-time feminist. In fact, she was well known for her feminist views. Someone in an article said that some of her poems mad men look tainted and evil, while the woman looks innocent and pure. The book “ Black Aesthetic of the Domestic”, jump-started her fame to become a well-known feminist. Most of her books or poetry was from her point of vie or a womens. Ms. Brook wanted equality for women, just as it was for man. Despite her feminist views, she was still highly favored by the open-minded ones of society. Together with, feminism poems that reflected the previous subject of feminism are “ Mother”, and “Sadie and Maud”. These two poems reflected feminism.Mother is a touching poem on Anti-Abortions. In the poem, she writes how she was not “deliberated in making her decision on having an abortion. She contemplates and asks could you really kill something that was not alive. Sadie and Maud” are about two sisters. One marches to the beat of her drum ( Sadi), and the other marches to another's beat (Maud). In the end, Sadie lives a full and happy life and has two daughters with the same spirit as her. Maud ends up as quiet as a mouse, alone in an old house. Moreover, Not only was feminism a big to Ms. Brooks but also reality. Her works screamed reality from the top of its longs. There was never no once upon times or any poems where your life just completely ran smoothly. The poem “The Life of Lincoln West” is a blunt poem of an ugly boy who gets treated like a monster his whole life; even by his own mother. He finds comfort in being called the real deal of a savage negro because to him it meant that he was the real deal. Oh, how naive was little Lincoln.” “Primer for black folks»is a poem that tells blacks that we are indeed black no matter if you are mixed with Indian or from the depths of Africa. The poem tells us we should honor it and be proud. Ms. Brooks has many poems that come from her personal experiences.

Lastly, Gwendolyn Brooks Contributed a lot to the American Literary Heritage. She was a very strong woman and an open-minded person. Her creativity is an eleven out of ten, and so is her feminism. Ms. Brooks told it like it was and never apologized. Ms. Brooks had a really great meaning behind each writing. She wrote about what she valued and what was important to her. To her poetry wasn't some way to get rich, poetry was stories that needed to be told to her. She brought up the negatives and positives of being black. She had her opinions on violence and other things. And she even stated that she will never forget her babies she “killed”.