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Post by kristin18 on Oct 24, 2017 10:22:07 GMT -6
In Gwendolyn Brooks "Kitchenette Building", she appeals to the women community by asserting the comparison of dreams vs. reality. When first reading "Kitchenette Building, I wanted to know who the "we" referred to. I assumed that Brooks used the word "we" to directly state her audience and not exclude herself. It can be inferred that she was talking about to women community by the title as well. Kitchens are mostly related to women because they are known to be the household cookers and the kitchen is their sanctuary. For me, this was quite clear because I consider the kitchen to be my sanctuary! Brooks straight away talks about the dreams women have and compares it to the reality of being a wife and "satisfying a man" to illustrate that women necessarily have these great dreams as anyone else but they are restricted to the confines of being "in the kitchen" because of their wifely, women-like duties.
Brooks suggests that these dreams fade "through onion fumes" as they go through day by day doing tasks that women in society were told to do such as take care of a household and put their dreams on hold to make them the perfect woman. The others in the household rely on women to make sure everything is near perfect as the frustration and exhaustion is ignored through their daily routines. This is a very interesting poem because it made me think of some women now, including my mother, who has put their dreams on hold to make everyone happy including the children just hoping at the end of the day if they can relax in the bath with lukewarm water then wake up the next day doing it all over again. Even though the woman might think she isn't feeling recognized, she felt like this was true reality and her obligation was to be a woman, not dream.
Brooks made this poem in 1945 (post war time) to relay the message that women were treated differently especially in these times and were only stuck to the society's idea of a woman. Even though this was in the 19th century, we are still dealing with this present day. The last 10 or so years, we have seen more and more women roles in productions, businesses, and even political roles like Hilary Clinton being close to winning the election. While as back then, there was no effort in having women to be more than a daily wife as their career. There was even propaganda that made women grow up wanting to be the most successful housewife with "5" kids and a hard working husband.
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Post by akmaples on Oct 25, 2017 12:03:07 GMT -6
Gwendolyn Brooks is a 20th-century American poet. Born in Topeka, Kansas, but raised in Chicago. Her poem, “Kitchenette Building” explores the topic of Blacks living in areas that were specifically tailored to discriminate against them. The word kitchenette means tiny, usually one-room, apartments that shared bathrooms and kitchens with several other families. The kitchenettes where homes to low income blacks. Brooks chooses to use the pronoun, “we” in order to include that these housing conditions were affecting many different blacks. This was the beginning of segregation practices dealing with black families as well as inner city Chicago. The word kitchenette gives off a ‘cutesy’ feel. She recognizes the struggles that people have with believing in their dreams. Dreams are what gives us the inspiration to actually continue to do things in life. Without them, we would be unproductive.
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Post by andrea on Oct 25, 2017 12:22:31 GMT -6
In Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "Kitchenette Building", she discusses how, in the 1960's black people faced various forms of discrimination, one of which was being given very small homes which held very small kitchens. This explains the word "kitchenette" in the title. However, much like Kristin, I initially thought the poem was talking abouvert how women are confined to the kitchen, since thats where they're "supposed" to be. This arguement could easily be back up by the use of food related descriptions, as seen in the phrases "onion fumes" and "fighting with a potato".
However, after looking up the meaning of "Kitchenette" I stumbled upon an article about how in the 1960's the tiny kitchens in African American homes became known as Kitchenettes. Based on the 2nd and 3rd lines, I'm assuming that "dream" doesn't make a strong sound like the others because black people weren't necessarily allowed to have dreams during this time, since they needed to be focused more on needs and simply getting by than chasing dreams.
A good deal of this poem is quite confusing to me, but I can only assume that thi poem is simply meant to represent the struggles that black people faced. Even if they did have dreams, they were very unlikely to be a reality, so many black people probably struggled with wanting to follow their dreams but just sticking to their mundane lives because they feared what might happen if they simply gave into their wants.
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Post by Keviana S on Oct 25, 2017 17:05:04 GMT -6
In the poem, "Kitchenette Building", by Gwendolyn Brooks the speaker is one of the residents that live in an apartment building. I disagree with what Kristin said about women is putting their dreams on hold to take care of their families, because I don't think it has anything to do with this topic of dreams. However, I think the poem is relying a message solely on how dreams are better than the experiences faced while being a resident of kitchenette building or facing poverty. Brooks is giving us a glimpse into someone else's life while they faced many challenges with segregation. My interpretation therefore relates to what Aliyah and Andrea was saying about people being confined within this building of discrimination forced upon African Americans.
Furthermore, Gwendolyn Brooks ponders about whether dreams and aspirations can compete with the dull detail of life: onion fumes, fried potatoes, and garbage rotting in the hall. She discusses how dreams are wonderful, but yet a impractical thing. She begins the poem by letting herself think about dreams, but ends with that she has no time for dreams in her simple life. She uses quotation marks in the first stanza to show us that “rent” and “feeding a wife” are more practical things than the idea of a “dream.” She uses one question mark in the poem in stanza three to have her ponder the idea of what could it be if she allowed herself to pursue this dream. Also, in the second and third stanza she personifies dreams through the choices of her verbs: “fight, flutter, and sing.” However in the fourth stanza she talks about taking care of the dream through actions: “warm it, and keep it very clean.” Reading and annotating this poem has helped me come the understanding that the speaker is someone who would rather face the difficulties of poverty than dream of changes.
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Post by jordan on Oct 25, 2017 19:11:38 GMT -6
I agree with Aliyah. Not only was Brooks a 20th century poet, but she was also a black 20th century poet. The fact that she is black brings another level of connection; the "we" she refers to includes herself and the black community who lives in these kitchenettes. She talks about the sound of a "dream" versus the sounds "rent", "feeding a wife", and "satisfying a man"; a dream evokes this desire, want, and hope, while compared to rent and food evoke the harness of reality. She describes the fight between wanting to pursue your "white and violet", American, dream as a black person and wanting to eat "fried potatoes", to survive. She highlights the contrasts of wanting to sing an "aria", which is a long song performed at the opera, down the halls that smell of the garbage of yesterday.
In the last two stanzas, Brooks uses different punctuation. She ends the 3rd stanza with a question mark like she's wondering what it would be like to let her dream grow and begin. "But not well! not for a minute!" is her dismissing that thought away, how dare she think of something like that, and coming back to reality as she hopes to get "lukewarm water" after "Number Five" (who I assume is another person sharing the kitchenette) is out of the bathroom.
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Post by Quevin Eskridge on Oct 26, 2017 8:41:38 GMT -6
I do agree with Kristin’s and Andrea’s points that the Kitchenette reference has something to do with women, but also the struggles of black people as Jordan was saying. I looked up the suffix of the word -ette- and it has many definitions. One of the definitions is the most obvious and clear, “the smaller form of an idea or object”, while the other two really made me think. The second definition describes the suffix as meaning the female equivalent of an idea or object. This made me think because during this period of history, women were not seen as equals to their male counterparts, and by referring to an object as the female version of its counterpart is demeaning to women and places them below men. This undermining of women was a major focus of protest at the time, and still is today. Not only for the women, but also as black people, “we”, as she refers to herself and the black community, have been given the lesser form; the short end of the stick; the imitation to a major brand. Which also brings me to the third definition. The third definition also had me intrigued because it defined the word as an imitation. In order for white people to remain in control and maintain their sense of superiority to black folks, they would give them the not so fantastic version of what they have. This is more of a psychological oppression because instead of directly targeting the victims, they target the way they view themselves. If someone was to tell you that what you have is the fake or imitation of the pristine valuables that they have , it can mess with you. Also, black people were not able to go out and be successful at an easy rate. The small, imitation kitchens to the grand white people’s kitchens is all they have. This also ties into the idea of breaking down the black family. If you use all of the definitions of the suffix in conjunction with one another, you can see a full picture- black people were given the smallest of the small to work with, it was also less pristine than the other kitchens, which made it feel fake by comparison, and then to refer to it as the female version insults the men and how they feel about making a life for their family.
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Post by Kevin beeler on Oct 26, 2017 9:36:59 GMT -6
I agree but there seems to be some confusion on what a kitchenette is. While the speaker may mean for it to be a reference to the treatment of women in a household, a kitchenette is just a small kitchen the Orión of the has nothing to do with it being demeaning to women. I agree with what Kristan says about women putting their dreams on hold because in the sense of that stanza it characterizes it as “giddy” or silly while then saying things like “ rent” or “feedings a wife” as strong or serious as these things at that time would have been seen a needs while a dream would be a want. When she says “had time to warm it” the it she talks about to me are the dreams that women put on hold as if you are focused solely on feeding the family and paying rent a dream seems like just one more thing you have to make time to “keep clean” or to nurture. At the end of the poem it seems to me that the speaker reveals what this dream is a peaceful space of “lukewarm water, hope to get in it” or a calm warm bath where the smell of the garbage and onions can not interfere with the dreams that she holds.
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Post by nayaj0nes on Oct 26, 2017 16:09:01 GMT -6
In “Kitchenette” written by Gwendolyn Brooks, the speaker's identity is revealed through the point of view that Brooks uses. The speaker of the poem lives in a “Kitchenette” Building in the 1930, which was a small cooking area, mainly in black residencies, that only contain the basic cooking essentials. Instead of narrating the poem in the first person singular voice, Brooks chooses to use the first person plural voice, which allows the speaker, Brooks, to account for not only herself but also all voices of residents in kitchenettes. The first line of the poem draws the readers of the poem into the poem and carries us to the finishing line due to the fact that it includes the word we. It makes us want to know who the we is and increases our wondering of who we exactly is. The “kitchenette” population was not diverse in that majority of its residents contained lower class African Americans, which is why the speaker chose to use the pronoun we. This is a very bold choice of Brooks because she doesn’t alienate an entire population in writing the poem. She includes everyone, even her readers in what is going on. Her identity is being revealed because she is including herself in the population of kitchenette residents.
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Post by nikymbaw on Oct 26, 2017 16:13:33 GMT -6
I agree with Aliyah and Andrea when it comes to the various references towards women within in the poem. Considering the fact that the poem sometime during the 1930s or 1960s, having Brooks compare's "dreams" to the "strong sounds" such as "rent" or "satisfying a man" only confirms the grittiness of living during this time period, as well as imply the confined role that women sported. The repetition of having a "dream" that is sent "...up through onion fumes" or sent to "fight with fried potatoes// And yesterday's garbage ripening in the hall" reflects how these dreams are some of the few things that can help push through the almost thick and suffocating air that surrounds being a women. This can also be supported by the way Brooks describe the “involuntary plan” earlier in the beginning instilling that women had little choice but to contribute to lives they may not have wanted in the first place. The ending of the poem, however, leaves a very optimistic feeling or at least a feeling of longing. The speaker says “We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it” and I believe they are referring how women still have this sliver of hope, or at least this moment of calm where they can forget about the struggles of life, and just get a chance to relax from time to time. It’s short lived, but it’s part of what keeps them going.
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taj
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Post by taj on Oct 26, 2017 17:51:55 GMT -6
In kitchenette building by Gwendolyn Brooks, The speaker is a woman. Rather than a specific person complaining about their individual problems, Brooks is making the speaker appeal to an entire group, which coincides well with her use of rhetorical question and bleak imagery. On the topic of bleak imagery, perhaps that is why the speaker does not have a name: their existence is one so dull that it doesn't even warrant them having a name; a faceless protagonist. The use of words such as "grayed" and "dream", are in a juxtaposition that creates an atmosphere of outwardly oppression. The speaker perhaps has a duality of personality, on one end they are the hardworking yet "bland" housewife who keeps their more free-thinking side oppressed by all the duties expected of her by society. Throughout all of her boring and drab descriptions of the realities of garbage and cooking- there is a certain "silver lining" of hope that is employed. The imagery of keeping "it" warm and clean represents an inner warmness that comes from within the woman rather than from her surroundings. Brooks returns to the imagery of bleakness when she mentions "Number five", most likely another name for a child, but we end on a note of ambiguity, a mixture between hope and nil with the imagery of lukewarm water. The woman does not gallantly overcome her circumstances, however she learns how to see the good in her efforts in that lukewarmness.
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mari
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Post by mari on Oct 26, 2017 18:07:33 GMT -6
I agree with Kristin when she claims that the poem is about how women have limited responsibility. by "dried hours" she is stating that there are no life in the daily activities that she and other women are forced to work through. The Idea of dreaming to be something else instead of a house wife is more appealing, however she saw these dreams as just dreams and cannot become a reality. She claims that the reason the dreams aren't a reality is because herself and other women would think about it, however they tend to let the idea leave their minds after a while. I gained this information from the last paragraph when she said " we wonder. But not well!" I took it more so as if the woman had a chance to go somewhere with their wondering, but they let it stay at a rest and continued to stay as a house wife, pleasing others rather than pleasing themselves.
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