Image

In the poem, We wear the mask, By Paul Laurence Dunbar, he is trying to imply that
we are very unaware of the bad things that could happen to us. A line in the poem where it
sounds like an interesting part is the very first line of the poem. When it says, We wear the
mask that grins and lies, this part in the poem represents a metaphor, symbol, and
personification. It represents metaphor because its connecting a face to someone who lies. The
poem is connected to a symbol because of the mask that hides us. A comparison that is
connected to personification because it shows how there are secretive and dishonest people in
the world and that you can tell who they really are. Another personification is where it says Why
should the world be overwise, In counting all our tears and sighs, this tells us that we are
unaware of these bad people and the pain that is caused because of them and their actions.
Overall this poem is trying to explain that there are secretive and dishonest people and that
there is no point in trying to convince them that they are in the wrong.
Music
The poem, We wear the mask, By Paul Laurence Dunbar, explains that there are
different types of music that are identified in his writing. Some examples of music are
alliteration, consonance, and assonance. There are examples of alliteration in the poem
because its says Mouth and Myriad and these two words start with the letter M. This helps
people understand; or the reader to understand, that there is some type of swinging pattern that
is heard in this section of the stanza. Consonance is also found in this poem where it says It
hides our cheeks and shades our eyes the, (des), in hides and shades are consonance
because they have a similar type of sounds anywhere in the word-in this case at the end of both
of the expressions or words. Another type of music that is used in this poem is assonance.
Assonance is used in a similar vowel, and in any nearby words. The section where assonance
is mostly found is in the three words, lies, hides, and eyes. All of these words have the long Isound, which shows that it is part of the vowel sound. The three words come from the piece of
the poem that says, We wear the mask that grins and lies, it hides our cheeks and shades our
eyes. Paul Laurence Dunbar also uses onomatopoeia in the same line that he uses
assonance- And mouth with myriad subtleties. The first opening line in the first stanza say that
We wear the mask.., We wear the mask is portrayed all throughout the poem located in
different locations in the beginning, middle, and end. So, this does show that the lines that say
We wear the mask is considered to be known as repetition because of the use of the element
and how it is repeated throughout the poem.
Emotion
The poem, We wear the mask, by Paul Laurence Dunbar, shows that there is some
type of theme, hyperbole, and mood. The theme in the poem that Paul Laurence is trying to
imply throughout the poem is that our faces don't always show our true emotions. Many people
still today hide their true feelings by changing their facial expressions to a smile, rather than
tears. Paul also explains that the mood in this poem is very undefined because people are
hiding their true emotions. This is the reason why they were the masks. They appear happy and
full of smiles but there is a part where reality comes to show that its not all about that happy

because there is a part of them were suffering and strength really do become a reality. Paul
Laurence Dunbar explains about slavery and what African Americans had to go through this part
of the poem can mostly be without a doubt about the author himself, and the struggles that he
ad to go through in his own lifetime. This part in history was one of the hardest periods in African
American history for the United States. This poem also has some connection to hyperbole. The
first one is With torn and bleeding hearts, this explains that all the pain we go through we still
can put a smile on our faces even when we are at our lowest point. The second one is To thee
from tortured souls arise, this line is trying to convey that the souls that are tortured are the
truth of how they are crying for help even if they do appear to have a smile on their face. These
disguises are just emotions of the painful truth that hide them and their true selves which wont
do them any good in the long run.