How about receiving a customized one? If the mask serves to hide the true feelings of the wearer, why does the wearer choose to don it? resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. Hi there, would you like to get such a paper? The happy face of the mask is seen one way by “them” but hides a completely different ambition as well as different emotional state by the “we.” By donning this façade, the wearer has been able to achieve ambitions that would likely have gone unrealized without the mask. All rights reserved, Analysis of a Poem “We wear the mask”. Are You on a Short Deadline? Author Dunbar creates a somewhat cacophonic feel to the poem to portray the hurt of these people who must wear masks. (2016, Oct 12). I see only one author here Paul Laurence Dunbar . GradeSaver, 27 December 2017 Web. Is the mask donned out of actual desire to hide one’s true feelings or has the mask been given to the wearer with a desire by the giver to not have to see the agony of the real face behind the mask? Although the poem is more cacophonic, and harsh, rather than euphonic, and harmonious, the use of alliteration helps highlight the importance of this stanza’s sayings. Dunbar writes, “We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries/ To thee from tortured souls arise” (10-11). This verse brings about an emotional side of the speaker that we have not seen in the play, which is the essential effect of apostrophe. The Trickster is thus forced to rely on intelligence, wit and manipulation. “We Wear the Mask” describes …show more content… Through the imagery and the vernacular language the poem is written in , Dunbar implies that the speaker is a slave nanny. We Wear the Mask. ” The poem reads, “Why should the world be over-wise,/ In counting all our tears and sighs? The poet consciously adopts a point of view that is pluralized. The Trickster is an figure usually lacking in the traditional modes of power: he has little to no authority, he does not possess the strength of the typical epic hero and he likely has either no path to inherited empowerment or he faces a path obstructed by rivals endowed with more traditional heroic attributes. Since slave times blacks have not been respected. Let a Professional Writer Help You, © New York Essays 2020. Through the use of many literary devices Dunbar is able to capture the true meaning behind the mask, which is a disguise that camouflages the actual emotions of the mask wearer. Although each stanza has a bit of alliteration, the second stanza is the most dominant. How might the speaker of the poem be considered an example of the ancient archetype of the Trickster? In the first stanza, he starts off with the title of the poem stating, “we wear the mask that grins and lies” (1). Obviously he does not mean that there is a debt to human guile that he is paying with money, but rather since blacks have always been seen as deceptive since slave times, they must forever live in it. "We Wear the Mask Essay Questions". Read the Study Guide for We Wear the Mask…, Fahrenheit 451 Through the Lens of "We Wear the Mask" and "Barn Burning", Double Consciousness and the Harlem Renaissance, View Wikipedia Entries for We Wear the Mask…. / Nay, let them only see us, while/ We wear our masks” (6-9). You write "either" author. Overall, the speaker’s awareness of putting on a fake facade to avoid trouble is apparent through literary devices such as alliteration, metaphors, and apostrophe. The poem, “We Wear the Mask” describes hardships blacks went through in America and how the blacks hide their sadness, grief, and sorrow behind a mask to survive and live from the whites. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. Another word for this type of manipulation, of course, is deception, hence the term Trickster. The Question and Answer section for We Wear the Mask is a great All rights reserved. We Wear the Mask essays are academic essays for citation. In Antebellum and Post Civil War America, African Americans utilized what little authority they had through the power of the mask. The second stanza, especially, emphasizes the poems paradox and alliteration. Hire a Professional to Get Your 100% Plagiarism Free Paper. This paper examines the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 1903 poem “We Wear the Mask”, which is in open defiance of the commonly accepted fallacy of his day that African-Americans were happy in the subservient roles they were forced to assume in the face of white racism. How does the poet effectively and subtly universalize his assertion in a way that forces the reader to see his point? These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar. In a sense, the speaker is able to take the focus from masks to addressing the fact that they are being tortured; the fact that they are being tortured is exactly why they wear the masks they do, to show they are not intimidated. Even after blacks received the right to vote and own land, the federal system still made it hard for blacks to make a breakthrough. Essays for We Wear the Mask. The title could have been “I wear the Mask” or “They Wear the Mask” or even “Those Who wear the Mask” and with just a slight reworking of language have considered essentially the same theme in essentially the same way. This stanza really goes into the mind of the person speaking, and the outcome is a part of the reason why they wear “masks. A Flair for the Dramatic/Selfish Machines by Pierce the Veil. / Nay, let them only see s, while/ We wear our masks” (6-9). This poem is about the true feelings of blacks being hidden behind masks, when also the poem itself hides the fundamental issue of racism from even being mentioned – that alone is a paradox because the poem has a mask on as well. With this one tiny distinction, the poem forces the reader to question something that is not directly addressed in the text: what is the origin of the mask? Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” is a lyric poem in which the point of attraction, the mask, represents the oppression and sadness held by African Americans in the late 19th century, around the time of slavery. (Lines 1-2) However, the next lines of the poem suggest that the nature of the mask that is worn is far more complex than a mask made of paper or plaster. (2015, Apr 23). Even more important to this process, however, is the situation of those who do not wear the mask as “them.” Without making it explicit, the poem sets up the reader to first unconsciously acquaint themselves with the wearers of the mask and then to consciously choose sides: are they with those wearing the mask (those who are “in” on the joke) or are they a part of the “them” that only see what they are intended to see (those whom the joke is being played upon). Everyone lies to one another, keeping a sweet simple face to hide the truth. Which of the following best describes a central theme of the text? These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. An analysis of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem We Wear the Mask. Essays for We Wear the Mask. In the first stanza, he starts off with the title of the poem stating, “we wear the mask … The first and second, and also the third and fourth of each line use the long I sound for end rhyme except for the last lines of each stanza. writing. The poem strikes a contrast between African American’s exposed social faces and the bleeding hearts within their apparently smiling, happy exteriors. In a sense, the speaker is admitting to the more powerful that all those making up the “we” wearing the mask have been pulling a great deception on them for a very long time without most of them having any level of awareness. Throughout the poem the speaker only uses a prefix when referring to is Miss Lucy: “G’way an’ quit dat noise, Miss Lucy,’ (line 1) and “Tell you one thing now, Miss Lucy,”(line 13). Retrieved October 8, 2020, from https://newyorkessays.com/essay-we-wear-the-mask/, Save Time On Research and Writing. 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