Analysis of We Wear The Masl
Shannon Warnick
Mr. Jack DuBose
English 102: Composition, Literature, and Research
February 19, 2015
What Lies Behind A Mask? In today's society, there are many factors that play into what is acceptable and what is frowned upon. There are also many roles that play into what we as citizens want the public to know. In the poem, We Wear The Mask published by Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1896, society as a whole is used as the subject of the word “we.” This “we” that Dunbar talks about consists of several characteristics as a whole, but three important ones that stand out over the others are deceitful, cautious, and mysterious. As all people know, hiding emotions and feelings can either be easy or extremely hard. Some people can hide their emotions because they do not show on the outside, but other people wear their heart on their sleeve and everyone can see every emotion that person is feeling. I am the kind of person who wears her heart on her sleeve. No matter how much I try, my emotions are easily seen by those around me. In the very first line of the poem, Dunbar writes of a mask that grins and lies (line 1). Society wears a mask to convince those around that nothing is wrong and that everything is exactly the way it should be. The deceit that every person plays on one another today is much more than that of the poem. People walk around with a mask that hides the real them because they do not meet the standards of society today. People base their looks and appearance off of those famous celebrities that control the media. Weight starts to become a problem, hair, makeup, and even clothes. Instead of the mask being a coverup to hide emotions and feelings, the mask has now become the various things to make a person acceptable to society. The deceitful behavior played by society in this poem and in life today shows that no one can truly accept the feelings they have or the image they portray. Within the fifteen lines of this poem, cautious is another characteristic
Mr. Jack DuBose
English 102: Composition, Literature, and Research
February 19, 2015
What Lies Behind A Mask? In today's society, there are many factors that play into what is acceptable and what is frowned upon. There are also many roles that play into what we as citizens want the public to know. In the poem, We Wear The Mask published by Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1896, society as a whole is used as the subject of the word “we.” This “we” that Dunbar talks about consists of several characteristics as a whole, but three important ones that stand out over the others are deceitful, cautious, and mysterious. As all people know, hiding emotions and feelings can either be easy or extremely hard. Some people can hide their emotions because they do not show on the outside, but other people wear their heart on their sleeve and everyone can see every emotion that person is feeling. I am the kind of person who wears her heart on her sleeve. No matter how much I try, my emotions are easily seen by those around me. In the very first line of the poem, Dunbar writes of a mask that grins and lies (line 1). Society wears a mask to convince those around that nothing is wrong and that everything is exactly the way it should be. The deceit that every person plays on one another today is much more than that of the poem. People walk around with a mask that hides the real them because they do not meet the standards of society today. People base their looks and appearance off of those famous celebrities that control the media. Weight starts to become a problem, hair, makeup, and even clothes. Instead of the mask being a coverup to hide emotions and feelings, the mask has now become the various things to make a person acceptable to society. The deceitful behavior played by society in this poem and in life today shows that no one can truly accept the feelings they have or the image they portray. Within the fifteen lines of this poem, cautious is another characteristic