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1. B. Brooks was inspired to write the poem after passing a pool hall in her Chicago community.
2. D. The speakers are a group of pool players. Although the players who inspired the poem are young Black males, they could refer to any group of rebellious youths.
3. A. The speakers reject the expectations placed upon them by society by skipping or dropping out of school and drinking underage. Although they may be oblivious in some respects, they are keenly self-aware of their behavior and where it will likely lead.
4. C. Although the “Golden Shovel” could symbolize numerous things at the start of the poem, with the final line, “We / Die soon” (Lines 9 and 10), the shovel evokes the image of a gravedigger’s task.
By Gwendolyn Brooks
A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi...
A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon
Gwendolyn Brooks
A Sunset of the City
A Sunset of the City
Gwendolyn Brooks
Boy Breaking Glass
Boy Breaking Glass
Gwendolyn Brooks
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
Gwendolyn Brooks
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
Gwendolyn Brooks
The birth in a narrow room
The birth in a narrow room
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Blackstone Rangers
The Blackstone Rangers
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock
The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Crazy Woman
The Crazy Woman
Gwendolyn Brooks
The Lovers of the Poor
The Lovers of the Poor
Gwendolyn Brooks
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
Gwendolyn Brooks
To The Diaspora
To The Diaspora
Gwendolyn Brooks
Ulysses
Ulysses
Gwendolyn Brooks