SHSAT RC-04

	Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was an American
	poet. Her grandfather was a slave who fled		In addition to being a poet, she taught poetry to
	slavery, later fought on the side of the Union in		college students in the Chicago area.
	the Civil War, and was part of a pivotal era in		She taught them the importance of clarity in
5	American history.		writing poetry. There are hundreds of people
		35	who learned from her in those classes, and
	His son, Gwendolyn’s father, married a teacher		several of them have gone on to write their own
	and lived in Kansas. After Gwendolyn was born,		poetry. Most of them also understood poems
	the family sought the opportunities offered by a		better because of learning from her how to
	growing city and moved to Chicago. Gwendolyn		determine the ideas the poems are meant to
10	Brooks was educated in Chicago public schools.	40	convey.
	She grew up in Chicago and lived there for the
	remainder of her life, although she traveled to		Illinois has a special role called Poet Laureate.
	many places.		Gwendolyn Brooks was named Illinois
			Poet Laureate in 1968, but this recognition didn't
	Gwendolyn Brooks enjoyed the literary pursuits		come until one year after she had already been
15	of reading and writing. She wrote extensively	45	named poet laureate for the whole country. She
	about her experiences, but she also wrote about		was very clear about her artistic priorities: of
	urban lives – particularly those in Chicago.		greater importance is the ideas a poet
	When she was just thirteen, a poem she wrote		communicates—more than the prizes a poet may
	was published in a magazine. In time, she was		earn, but she earned many prizes. She is
20	published in the books of others, but she	50	recognized today as a great poet and also an
	eventually authored entire volumes of her own		important African American whose influence
	poetry. She became an accomplished poet, well-		continues to be felt by subsequent generations.
	known in the United States and abroad. She won
	numerous awards for her poetry.		At 83, she was diagnosed with cancer. Shortly
			thereafter, she died. Her death in 2000 affected
25	It was not easy to get a job in writing, so Brooks	55	people all over the world. While countless
	worked for a while as a typist, putting the words		numbers of people mourned her death, she had
	of others in print. However, she continued to		accomplished much in her life. She is an
	write her own words, and these became		important part of Chicago history, African-
	important poems that inspired people throughout		American history, and American history.
30	the world.