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Gwendolyn BrooksA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“kitchenette building” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1963)
This poem centers on key themes in Brooks’s canon. Here, the speaker of the poem is a Black woman in poverty, living in an urban house. In this poem, the kitchenette of a house symbolizes the experiences of the woman, like the city does in “A Sunset of the City.” The poem asks about the possibility of fulfilling a dream deferred, and it echoes notable works by Langston Hughes and Lorraine Hansberry, also artists associated with the Black Arts Movement.
“Primer for Blacks” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1980)
A poem from later in Brooks’s career, this poem is more explicit in describing Brooks’s experience as a Black woman living in Chicago and advocates for a Black collective.
“Black Art” by Amiri Baraka (1965)
This controversial poem by Baraka is credited as the inspiration for the Black Arts Movement; Baraka emphatically expresses his desire for Black artists to start creating their own art outside of white traditions and expectations. Baraka himself, cited as the founder of the movement, contributed many works, including poems and plays, to the movement.
“A Woman Speaks” by Audre Lorde (1984)
Like Brooks, Lorde’s poem expresses her experiences as a Black woman.
By Gwendolyn Brooks
A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi...
A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon
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Boy Breaking Glass
Boy Breaking Glass
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Cynthia in the Snow
Cynthia in the Snow
Gwendolyn Brooks
Maud Martha
Maud Martha
Gwendolyn Brooks
my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell
my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell
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Speech to the Young
Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward (Among them Nora and Henry III)
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Ballad of Rudolph Reed
The Ballad of Rudolph Reed
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The birth in a narrow room
The birth in a narrow room
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Blackstone Rangers
The Blackstone Rangers
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The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock
The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock
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The Crazy Woman
The Crazy Woman
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The Lovers of the Poor
The Lovers of the Poor
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The Mother
The Mother
Gwendolyn Brooks
the rites for Cousin Vit
the rites for Cousin Vit
Gwendolyn Brooks
To Be in Love
To Be in Love
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To The Diaspora
To The Diaspora
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Ulysses
Ulysses
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We Real Cool
We Real Cool
Gwendolyn Brooks