Questions for “We Wear the Mask:”
The mask that is described in this poem is meant to represent the hiding of the emotions and the identity of an individual. It references the idea that in order for one to survive in the world, one must hide their true personality, feelings, and in the context of this poem, their race.
The line, “[...] debt we pay to human guile,” is used to imply the feelings of shame and guilt that come with the deceit one commits when they hide themselves. When a person hides behind a mask, they become unable to truly connect with any other human beings, on the grounds that the negativity linked with the mask often prevents proper interaction, in which emotions are key.
In Dunbar’s original context of the poem, he uses “we,” in order to clearly state that the poem is created from
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This is due to the comparison between the author and dust, but is different from a metaphor due to the use of the word “like.”
The poetic device used in the line, “You may cut me with your eyes,” can be considered to be an example of personification. The line emphasizes the idea that eyes have the power to physically harm someone or something, while in reality they lack this ability. This attaches a specific human trait or characteristic to something that would not have this trait otherwise.
After reading Maya Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise,” it becomes very clear that Angelou is proud of her race, and finds power from her past, as well as her culture. Throughout the poem, Angelou reiterates the positivity that she associates with being black, and she does so while inciting feelings of great power and inspiration. She will still rise, no matter who, or what, attempts to tear her down. Angelou makes it very clear that she will not be silenced, she will not hide, and most importantly, she will not be ashamed of her race or
Perhaps the reason that Maya’s poetry has had such a lasting impact on Americans is because of her poems such as ‘Caged Birds’ and ‘Still I Rise’ that demonstrate the issues that African – Americans faced, which she has done through the power of her words. She also challenges the readers with the theme of oppression that is carried out through her pomes as she felt very strongly about it by being surrounded by it her entire life. Maya Angelou has left an everlasting mark by influencing the society through her poems by inspiring others to persist towards their goals and dreams with strength and pride. Overall, Maya Angelou’s work can be attributed to the fact that her personal and cultural experiences of power have not been forgotten by overcoming adversity and oppression, which is clearly reflected in her inspiration body of work seen
The figurative language in a given poem usually correlates to the theme and, nevertheless, gives it personality in some way. In “We Wear the Mask,” the figurative language is darker, ordinarily connecting it to the theme of hiding your true feelings behind your “mask”. The writer, Paul Laurence Dunbar, uses personification the most in his poem, moreover, creating an image that correlates with the theme. Personification most easily creates an image that the writer can shape to connect with the theme. Dunbar uses this personification in a darker way, to connect with the more serious theme of hiding your feelings behind your imperceptible “mask”. “We wear the mask that grins and lies, it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,” is personifying the mask (Lines 1-2). Since this poem is mainly about hiding behind our alleged mask, it seems reasonable that Dunbar would personify the mask. Since he did so, the mask is given another level of depth that allows us to see the mask as the main object of the theme. The theme is developed by using this personification of the mask. Although diction and figurative language are important for developing the theme, they are not the only structure elements that can do
We all wear a mask for our own reasons but some are more permanent than others. Many people have to act differently from their true self their entire life to survive. Paul Lawrence Dubar wrote a poem called We Wear the Mask. He lived through a time of harsh racism, which ties into what this poem is about. The poem is about how people had to change how they truly felt or acted.
It is a natural tendency for humans to often hide their true selves. On the inside, they are the person they feel they should be; on the outside, they hide their true selves from society because they fear disapproval and ridicule of others, or society dictates who and what they should be. Audre Lorde believes that poetry, once written, enables a person to grow and change. “It sets the foundation for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before” (Lorde). However, according to the speakers in the poems “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, and “White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey, the speakers are unable to benefit from Lords perception that poetry (once written) will help a person grow and change because
In the poem ‘we wear a mask’ it mentions, “we wear the mask, that grins and lies.” (Dunbar,23). This quote uses the mask to symbolize the smile that's fake and hides the truth, ultimately, personification can be used to relate to the audience on a personal level. The author brings up this running theme of a mask that hides feelings and shows the world that they are “happy.”
On the way to this crescendo, Dunbar continues to add depth and breadth to the mask metaphor. “Cheeks and eyes are being hidden, and in “mouth with myriad subtleties” At this point in the poem there is little to lead the reader
The negative emotions in this poem have always been a component of black America’s struggle. In "We Wear The Mask,” The writer describes how people purposely change their external appearances and how this can be both detrimental and helpful. This is seen through his expertise use of metaphors and hyperboles. The poem is also about the mask, humans wear to disguise pain, sadness, or turmoil when in the company of others. The speaker opens with the title of the poem so that readers know that the “mask” (1) is really important. Dunbar gives the mask human characteristics because the people have allowed the mask to go from being temporarily on their face to permanent. It is ironic that the people wear the mask to conceal their suffering, but it causes them to suffer more.The use of hyperbole to express how serious the mask is and exaggerate it's power is seen in line (4) which states " With torn and bleeding hearts we smile". The hyperbole spotlights how the mask is powerful because it feeds off the peoples insecurities and negative emotions. Dunbar uses metaphors to exaggerate the emotions in the poems. He uses metaphor when the poem says "In counting all our tears and sigh " (7). It is impractical to count tears and sighs, henceforth the poet means that the world is unable to understand blacks' sufferings. Hyperbole and metaphors used in the poem links to how everyone wears a mask once in the while and has the
Majority of African American women get judged on the day to day basis. When scrolling through social media there will be large amounts of individuals who will bully or even belittle a colored female because of the natural kinks of her hair, her sense of fashion, the full shaped curves of her body, and the color of her skin . The poem “Still I Rise” by the well-known poet, Maya Angelou, specifically describes the reasons why she had so much confidence; even if she were to be judged by her appearances and mindset. This poem is about embracing females, but it mainly introduces similar life situations that many African American women have experienced. The symbols and point of view that Angelou specifically added in her poem made her readers realize that there are many meanings to this poem.
Maya Angelou, an African-American woman, wrote the poem, “Still I Rise,” in 1978 when racism was still prominent. Maya Angelou was reaching out to a racist community to prove oppression will not bring her down. Angelou brings up topics of what she and every other African-American person has to endure when living in their communities, and how they feel. She also brings up topics of oppression and marginalization throughout this speech to state that she will continue to rise up above it. Maya Angelou utilizes rhetorical questions, hateful diction, as well as, similes and metaphors to prove to others that she, and other African-American’s will rise against the racism and oppression they face.
In the 1896 symbolic poem “We Wear the Mask,” Paul Laurence Dunbar suggests that people are apathetic to the pain and suffering of others making it easier for one to hide their troubles behind a mask than to confront them. In the beginning, Dunbar uses a spine-chilling tone as he describes the mask while utilizing strange diction to exhibit the deception and protection that the mask symbolizes. Dunbar continues his eerie tone and strange diction as he uses juxtaposition to show that despite the pain people feel the mask they wear gives them a smiling appearance because the world does not care to see people’s hearts in pain. In the middle Dunbar shifts to a sarcastic tone and somber diction as he asserts that the world does not care about the
In the poem, "We Wear the Mask" written by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Mr. Dunbar dives in to the subject of human nature. Mr. Dunbar through "We Wear the Mask" speaks about the metaphorical mask we all wear as humans. In layman's terms, the poems examines the facade we display to the outside world. We as people hide "weak"emotions like sadness and brokenness by outwardly displaying emotions of joy and happiness, which is the metaphorical mask. We don't do hide emotions/wear the mask for ourselves, but for everyone else so they don't know how we are really feeling.
The poem “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou, addresses White people who discriminate African Americans. During this period of time, Black people were not being treated equally, with this poem Angelou wants to defend African Americans. As a civil rights activist it is her job to fight for people's rights. By employing simile, imagery, and repetition, Angelou defends African Americans against their oppressors and shows that people have to be confident and strong, and not feel put down but rise above their problems.
‘Still I Rise’ was written by an Afro-American poet Maya Angelou and consists of a mixture of tones, such as: playful, angry, comical and bitter. Slavery was long abolished but Angelou saw its effects on society and black people. In this poem she declares that no hatefulness of society will determine her success. In the poem ‘Still I Rise’ she is not only proclaiming her triumph but also calls others to stand up for themselves and live against society’s expectations.
Another way Dunbar criticizes his inability to escape the brand of a Dialect poet is in the structure of the poem. About three quarters of the poem is Dunbar speaking about his standard English works.
Poetry has always been a mirror to see unseen emotions and to hear unheard thoughts. Magical words used in an artistic way allows the reader to feel what the poet is feeling, to listen what the poet is listening and to share what the poet is going through. The two poems “I’m Nobody! Who are You?” by Emily Dickinson, and “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar are two classical works of poetry. While Dunbar shares agonizing experience of an entire community, Dickinson shares her thoughts about individual characteristic and personality; in fact, she cleverly wins the case of an introvert. Both these poems are independent of each other in terms of thought as well as from literary perspective.