true identity of their feelings. The 1896 poem "We Wear the Mask",

Paul Laurence Dunbar illustrates this theory. People wear mask for

many different reasons but mostly to hide their true self from society.

The message portrayed by Dunbar is that it is one's self right to wear a

The first couplet clearly states how strongly Dunbar feels about

the mask that we wear. According to him the mask allows us to

"grin[s] and lie[s]" while on the inside we are hiding how we truly feel.

By hiding our cheeks and shading our eyes we jade reality. In the

following line Dunbar explains one of the ways we use our mask is to

be "guile". Guile means that we are deceitful to others in our daily

quest. The fourth line of the stanza explains that we may hurt deeply

on the inside but because we are wearing our mask we still smile. So

no matter how bad we do hurt, out of habit we feel obligated to put

on a mask for everyone else. Dunbar ends the stanza by implying th

"all our tears and sighs". Why should the world be "over-wise" to our

content with wearing their mask. It is not always healthy to hide

This poem goes deeper than just the words on the page. When

have every right to wear our mask. At the same time he seems to be

and deeper. No one can ever be sure of the message that Dunbar is

Some common words found in the essay are:
Dunbar Nay, Laurence Dunbar, , wear mask, wearing mask, people wear, true self, people wear mask, mask wear, hide true, final stanza, dunbar believes, fourth line,
Approximate Word count = 747
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)