"We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks

Brooks was born in 1917 and grew up in Chicago. Although she had a functional and loving childhood, she was interested in the negative impacts of urban life. In 1967 she became involved in the Black Arts movement, where she focused on the underclass of black urban neighborhoods. "Like many urban writers, Brooks recorded the impact of city life. But unlike the most, she does not hold the city completely responsible for what happens to people. The city is simply an existing force with which people must cope" (Williams).


http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWxFiFsxikg&feature=related

"We Real Cool" can be found on page 879 of the Norton.
In this poem, "we" represents teenagers. This can be inferred by the conversational language and the use of slang.
The opening line, "we real cool" shows that the speakers are ignorant. The rebelious teenagers constantly need to get into trouble in order to be considered cool.
The author of the poem is mocking teenagers. Everything that the teenagers do is leading up to their death.
The ending line, "we die soon" shows that the author disagrees with crime among young people. This leads me to believe that the author once participated in these trivial acts as a teenager, and was able to come out alive.
However, she did learn a lesson and is preaching it to her audience.By Brooks' use of the teenagers' point of view, it shows the stupidity and ignorance of their acts.

Question:
-What do you think the placement of "we" on separate lines signifies? Or the softness of her voice when reading it?