english week 2 discussion RESPOND IN 150WORDS

In Paul Dunbar’s poem “We Wear the Mask” it uses the mask as a symbol. The mask represents how people say and do things that are dishonest. People hide how they feel and who they are. They tend to show others what they want to see rather than the truth of how they feel. Look at the metaphors in the poem, and it states “We wear the mask that grins and lies” (Dunbar, 1895, Line 1). People are polite and grin at each other when they walk past one another, even when they do not feel like smiling. The mask hides ones face so the frown cannot be seen. When the speaker states “But let the world dream otherwise” (Dunbar, 1895, Line 14) it is comparing how wearing the mask helps the world think that they have no problems. By comparing different things in the poem, a reader would have a better understanding of what the speaker is trying to tell. “We sing, but oh the clay is vile” (Dunbar, 1895, Line 11). When one looks at line 11, it shows how singing is a sign of happiness, but the clay being the earth is corrupt. Daily people put on a mask to hide how they feel. People only show others what they want them to see, but on the inside, they are not always happy as they appear. This is why people say they wear a mask.

References

Dunbar, P. (1895). We wear the mask. In X.J Kennedy and D Gioia (Eds.) The Literature Collection: An E-Text [VitalSource digital version] (p. 239). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.