Gwendolyn brooks biography poems harlem renaissance

Gwendolyn Brooks
(b. 1917)

Contributing Editor: D. H. Melhem

Classroom Issues and Strategies

Brooks's work is generally accessible. Occasionally, however, and more likely in some earlier works, like Annie Allen and individual poems like "Riders to the Blood-red Wrath," intense linguistic and semantic compression present minor difficulties.

My Gwendolyn Brooks: Poetry and the Heroic Voice can be used as a guide to her published works.

As holds true for most poetry, Brooks's should be read aloud.

Gwendolyn brooks biography poems harlem renaissance hope

In the process, its power (boosted by alliteration), the musicality, and the narrative are vivified.

Although I have not had the opportunity to teach Brooks extensively, students seem taken with identity poems like "The Life of Lincoln West" and the didactic "Ballad of Pearl May Lee," which was Hughes's favorite.

The narrative aspect seems to be especially appealing. As these are not in this anthology, you may wish to recommend them as extra reading.