Poem- "kitchenette building" by Gwendolyn Brooks

[Ms. Knarr]

kitchenette building by Gwendolyn Brooks



We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan,

Grayed in, and gray. “Dream” makes a giddy sound, not strong

Like “rent,” “feeding a wife,” “satisfying a man.”



But could a dream send up through onion fumes

Its white and violet, fight with fried potatoes

And yesterday’s garbage ripening in the hall,





Even if we were willing to let it in,

Had time to warm it, keep it very clean,

Anticipate a message, let it begin?



We wonder. But not well! not for a minute!

Since Number Five is out of the bathroom now,

We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it.



Follow link to listen to Brooks reading her poem: www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172080

[adamzaha]

1.According to me, I think that the main message of this poem was that if we give a dream enough effort and time it would become a possibility. Although it does give you that vibe, it also states that we are sometimes unable to give it the nurturing and the care that a dream needs to become a possibility. This is true to the person she is writing about because I get the feeling that she is a slave and that there are many obstacles in the way of her dreams. I Also get the feeling that she is trying to stress the hardships that women have to go through in there lives. In the writing of the poem there is one outstanding literary device. She uses metaphors to explain how dreams seem to her and how hard they are to achieve.

2. I dislike this piece because of the structure she used. The of the poem to me was lacking in structure because of the frequent breaks in her sentences and the weird breaks in the stanzas. This poem gave me the overall feeling of the hardships she was suffering. She also gave the feeling of being in a poor atmosphere because of the last stanza and the description of the bathroom. my overall reaction to this poem was tat it portrayed a very hard and dreamless lifestyle where I would be very unhappy.

3. 1) What are some examples of metaphors in the poem? 2) What lines give you the feeling that she could be talking about a slave? 3) what kind of feeling does she give towards dreams, and their possibility of becoming real? 4) What type feeling does the last stanza give you?

[samentwistle]

1. I believe that the main idea spoken about in this poem is the American dream. Being that the narrator of this poems struggles to achieve the dream, it signifies the stuggle and work it takes to accomplish a goal. I believe that the narrator is a slave, who is looking for freedom. By working hard in the house of his/her master, he/she is working torward her freedom. The narrator mentions the idea of anticipation, which I believe is the reference to the idea of anticipating her freedom. After the gain of freedom by the narrator, from the talk in the poem about the "dream," she will try and work until she leads a successful and happy life. This successful and happy life shows the idea of the American Dream. The one literary device used in the poem would be the author's use of metaphors. The author uses each metaphor to emphasize the idea of hardship in the poem that the narrator needs to surpass in order to acieve freedom, happiness, and the American dream.

2. I disliked this piece because in order to figure out the deeper meaning you had to read the poem numerous times. Also, I disliked the poem because in order to read it, you had to understand the phrasing that the author used. As the reader you had to put together the sentences and figure out the difficult phrasing of the poem. The overall feeling I gained from this poem would be the feeling that the narrator had numerous hardships and challenges to overcome, to even think about achieving his/her final goal of freedom. Being that the author was in such a difficult situation, my reaction was simply that I would never want to be in the narrators position. But I reacted positievly to the narrator's idea of doing whatever is possible to achieve her final goal.

3. 1) In response to Adam, some of the lines that give you the feeling that the narrator is a slave are: "But could a dream send up through onion fumes Its white and violet, fight with fried potatoes And yesterday’s garbage ripening in the hall." This line shows that the narrator has been in the kitchen cooking and "slaving" over the onion fumes and friend potatoes. The narrator also talks about the garbage ripening in the hall, showing that the garbage needs to be taken out and it is his/her job to do it. 2) Where do you think this poem's setting is? The south or the north?

[adamzaha]

1. I agree with Sam's views on the kitchen and the garbage as being signs of slave work, and also about the comment on how it is his or her job to do it.

2.I believe the setting of this poem is in the south because slavery was mostly in the south. A clue that can help figure this out is the last stanza where it states that "Since Number Five is out of the bathroom now, We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it". This shows there is more then one slave in the same place inferring that this is more of a plantation setting.
My question is: Do you think her view of dreams is still true today?

[briannashreve]

1. I agree with Sam's idea that the author is talking about the idea of the American dream. I think the author could mean that many people forget about their dreams, and become occupied with real life. When life takes over, dreams are somewhat forgotten. However in the end, it sounds like the author is saying the desire for their dreams never really does die. It may be buried deep within us, but it is never really gone.

2. I actually enjoyed this poem. The way Brooks words it leaves it up to a person's own interpretation, which I usually don't enjoy. However with this poem, I liked how it was worded so you were forced to do that. I like how it emphasized how important dreams are, and how life without dreams is not one worth living. I found inspiration in that.

3. (Answering Sam's question)
I think that the author is probably in the south, because it sounds like their dreaming of a better life somewhere else. This could be because racial prejudice in the south was greater than that in the northern parts of the country.

My question: What does the title have to do with the poem?

[mikeriga]

1.) I completely disagree with all of you guys, sorry. This poem is written after slavery and I think it's about the narrator's past, so slavery is out of the question. However, civil rights is a main aspect in this poem, the woman is obviously black due to the fact that this is in the Black Right's folder. Also, from the first sentence, "We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan, grayed in, and gray," it creates the image of a black woman working in a kitchen where she doesn't want to be. The poem is all about dreaming and how they are not strong when others don't give you a chance to achieve these goals. Women at the time, especially black women, had no future except caring for their children and taking care of their husband's house or the one they are renting in this lady's case. In this story the woman talks about how it's hard to achieve dreams when society restrains you or when poverty does. The woman was surely poor by the way she described the garbage as being in her hallway, and she says that in her financial state it's hard to dream. When the woman talks about bathing and how she has to wait for five people to use it, this is another way Brooks shows how this girl or even herself was once poor.

2.) My reaction to this poem at first was that it was hard to understand, but after deciphering each line the story became quite clear. Brooks is a genius for writing a poem like this, because there was some many other poor people that could relate to this poem. I personally love the message of how not only reaching your dreams is hard, but just dreaming is difficult as well when things like poverty affect you. The poem is very vague and that's why it is so awesome, because it's up to anyone interpretation. Sometimes all you have is your dreams or desires, so after hearing that they can be affected is eye-opening.

3.) To answer Samantha: The setting is in the North, because it sounds like she lives in the suburbs. The reason I'm saying this is because of her sometimes heated water, and how the garbage is in the hallway. If she lived in the south where it was mostly open land the garbage would be mostly outside.

4.) My question: Why does Brooks use the colors white and violet?