we wear the masks Essay - 964 Words

ENC 1102 October 10 2014 We Wear the Mask In Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem We Wear the Mask you quickly find out it is one big metaphor. Dunbar’s meaning behind this poem is about people covering up their feelings like someone using a mask to cover their face; as if it’s a big front to hide what is really going on. Dunbar being an African American poet in the late 19th and early 20th century was a harder time on colored people. His poems relate back to the hardships he saw and knew. The poem is broken up into three paragraphs. Each one talks about this mask hiding cheeks and eyes, covering up the truth from the world, and dealing with your emotions behind closed doors. In We Wear the Mask Dunbar uses metaphors and symbolism, which all†¦show more content†¦We can’t show any weakness or negative emotions which is exactly what slave owners and the average white man also thought. In one line Dunbar says â€Å"With torn and bleeding hearts we smile.† In that line alone it states so much about what his and other families went through. A lot of families in that time period got split up and separated from buying and selling people off. People often focus on the cruelty to slaves during that time but not a lot is focused on the emotional aspect of the cruelty. Mothers watched their own kids get sold off, husbands knew about their wives being raped by their masters, kids watched their parents be whipped for sometimes no reason at all. All of those things were physically awful, yet a lot of times we don’t fret enough on the emotion aspect of it. That’s where the mask would come into play. The African Americans would carry that smiling mask with them everywhere even though underneath it was a heartbroken soul. The theme in We Wear the Mask is one that any African American in those times could relate to. It is all about concealed pain, frustration, and anger. The mask they all wear is not a physically real mask (even though it may feel like one). This figurative mask is to cover up what they all want to express. The reason why African Americans at this time wore this so called mask was because they feared the consequences of their owners. Someone could get beaten earlier in the day but if you retaliated with a lash of anger or aShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of We Wear The Mask910 Words   |  4 PagesWe Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar, is a rhythmic poem that uses its melodic tone to address the excruciating misery and suffering Black people lived through during the 19th century. The facade of normality they had to wear during such an oppressive time is symbolized through Dunbar’s use of a â€Å"mask†. This theme is similar to the memories that are hidden and locked away in the novel â€Å"Beloved† by Toni Morrison. In Beloved, music has a similar yet unique role to the rhythm in We Wear the MaskRead MoreAnalysis Of We Wear The Mask851 Words   |  4 Pages Paul’s Dunbar poem â€Å"We Wear the Mask† is one of his many famous works published in 1896, first African American poet writer. He was the son of two former slaves, born in Dayton, Ohio, who escaped slavery and was the only color student during his high school years. During his life of being an African American, he faced many aspects in life, such as discrimination, and being denied as well as his own kind were during the Harlem Renaissance. Dunbar’s poem â€Å"We Wear the Mask† corresponds to his lifeRead MoreEssay about We Wear the Mask 1518 Words   |  7 PagesPaul Laurence Dunbar, dispatches the cold troubles of African Americans in the lyrical poem, We Wear the Mask. In this poem, Dunbar links imagery, rhythm, rhyme, and word choice to in order to institute a connection to the reader. From reading the poem, one can infer that Mr. Dunbar is speaking in general, of the misery that many people keep concealed under a grin that they wear very well. Bu t if one were to go further and take the time to research Mr. Dunbar’s selection of this piece and the eraRead More Hamlet: Masks We Wear Essay1101 Words   |  5 Pages Masks nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;A mask is a covering worn on the face or something that disguises or conceals oneself. All the characters in Shakespeares Hamlet hide behind masks to cover up who they really are, which contridictes a main idea, expressed by the fool, Old Polonius, quot;To thine ownself be truequot; (Polonius - 1.3.84). All the characters share strengths and triumphs, flaws and downfalls. Instead of revealing their vulnerabilities, each of them wears a mask that conceals whoRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper And We Wear The Mask2050 Words   |  9 Pages(technological revolution). The Yellow Wallpaper and â€Å"We Wear the Mask† both encompass various similarities and differences found through literacy elements such as form, tone, perspective and History’s elemental role in the overlying theme of the freedom of self-expression. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a short work of fiction based on the authors own experience with an unequal marriage and hardships of unfulfilled desired of self-expression. In â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† we see various literacy elements used such asRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem We Wear The Masks 842 Words   |  4 Pagesthat it would be?† Every day we make decisions that affect us and everyone around us. Sometimes the decisions we make are influenced by the people around us. There are influences that we see and some that are perpetuated on our thinking. The poems convey the importance of being true to oneself regardless of others opinions. Everyone you meet is not necessarily who you think they are. Many hide their fears and aspirations just like the speaker in â€Å"We Wear the Masks†. This poem was written in 1896Read MoreAnalysis of a Poem â€Å"We wear the mask† Essay936 Words   |  4 PagesAmber Davis Professor Quirk Literature 101 February 28, 2013 We Wear the Mask The lyric poem â€Å"We wear the mask† by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a poem about the African American race, and how they had to conceal their unhappiness and anger from whites. This poem was written in 1895, which is around the era when slavery was abolished. Dunbar, living in this time period, was able to experience the gruesome effects of racism, hatred and prejudice against blacks at its worst. Using literary techniquesRead MoreAnalysis Of Barbie Doll And We Wear The Mask1147 Words   |  5 Pages​â€Å"There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.† - Soren Kierkgaard. â€Å"Barbie Doll† by Marge Piercy and â€Å"We Wear The Mask† by Paul Laurence Dunbar are two pieces of poetry that vocalize the issues of ignorance and unrealistic social standards within society. Marge Piercy is a well-known novelist, poet, memoirist and activist. She was born on March 31st, 1936 in Det roit, Michigan into a family of labor workers, activists and creativeRead MoreRhetorical Devices Of `` We Wear The Mask `` And `` Harlem ``885 Words   |  4 Pagesexperience in the United States during the early twentieth century. In writings such as, â€Å"We Wear the Mask† by Paul Lawrence Dunbar and â€Å"Harlem† by Langston Hughes, the use of rhetorical devices gives each writer the ability to provide commentary on the social, economic, and political circumstances that African-Americans faced in inner-city Harlem during the turn of the twentieth century. In â€Å"We Wear the Mask†, Dunbar primarily employs the rhetorical device of metaphorical allusion to give the readerRead MoreWe All Wear Masks By Isabel Allende1077 Words   |  5 PagesMarissa Wohlferd Dr. Rodriguez Milanà ©s LIT 3823 26 November 2014 We All Wear Masks This semester was packed with new readings on levels I had yet experienced. I was introduced to new cultures, lifestyles, and the histories attached. These poems and novels all contained the most unique characters, all of who experienced the most unusual situations. There was not a character that could match another, each expressing different talents, flaws, and desires. Amongst our readings, one character sat