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Similarities Between We Wear The Mask And I Too

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Racism had an impact on society and the poems “We Wear The Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “I, Too” by Langston Hughes both showed that through there theme on how racism had an impact on people and showed the tone of frustration in their writing, both of these poems also show us how people were deceived into thinking something wrong is right. The common themes and tone shown in both of these poems can help us have a better understanding of what these poems are trying to show or tell us.

Beginning with the poem “We Wear The Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, this author presents the theme of the impact racism had on people and shows the tone of frustration. For example the author states in line 3 “This debt we pay to human guile” This demonstrates how slaves were suffering for others deception. From this we can infer that people were being deceived into thinking that treating someone else harshly because of their skin color was okay and normal. The tone of frustration is shown in line …show more content…

For instance in line 2-4 it states “I am the darker brother, They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes,” This reveals how because of his dark skin he is seen as someone who whites should not see, he's an embarrassment to have in front of others. One can infer that the white people he works for don't want him to be seen since in society at the time black people were not equal to them. The tone of frustration is shown in lines 16-18 when stated “They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed I, too am America” This exhibits the tone of frustration because once he eats with others who are white they will see how he is a person to, he is the same as them the only difference they have are who they are as people. We can infer that these whites will see that skin color doesn't matter and be ashamed of themselves for being so ignorant towards

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549 Words | 3 Pages

He says that the White think that African Americans want to be them and have their skin color and riches. But he portrays that they think wrong. He says in his appeal that the African Americans do not want to be their color because they know that they could not do the same harm as the whites did as of beating as they slowly die in the inside. He says that they have so much anger towards the white that the first thing that they would do is murder each and every one of them for the suffering that they bought on to their families of their kind. He would like to see them suffer the same way before they would ever become a white person.

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694 Words | 3 Pages

”(Douglass 59). When Douglass witnesses his first beating, he characterizes it as “the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery. ”(Douglass 16). He doesn’t refrain from depicting the barbarous details and describes many of the beatings to convey just how frequent they are. White people assume that the slaves’ singing is “evidence of their contentment and happiness,”; however, Douglass clarifies that the songs really represent the

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783 Words | 4 Pages

The cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; the voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord” (Douglass 32). This specific metaphor was used to objectify the cold blooded attitude of the slaveowners towards the slaves. These expressions proves that slaveowners had hatred and malice towards the slaves and also to instill fear among the African Americans. The aggressive behavior conveyed a clear message to the slaves that there is no space for disobedience and they would have to face dire consequences if they disobeyed. “At times, he spoke to his slaves with the firmness of Napoleon and the fury of a demon; at other times, he might well be mistaken for an inquirer who had lost his way…

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215 Words | 1 Pages

Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem, "We Wear the Mask," delivers a poignant message in fifteen brief lines. On one hand, the poem pays tribute to the historical struggles of African-Americans. Specifically, Dunbar explores the thought that many African-Americans disguised their true feelings during the racially tumultuous period between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. His moving words suggest that the African-American community of this time often wore "the mask that grins and lies" to avoid drawing unwanted attention to themselves.

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802 Words | 4 Pages

Paul Laurence Dunbar showed the potential struggles of being African American in his poem “We Wear the Mask”, written fifty-five years prior to “Dream Deferred”. Both poems share similar tones and themes. “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes can serve as a sequel to “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar through displaying a cause and effect relationship which highlights the strength of neglect and disguises.

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1218 Words | 5 Pages

In Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, “We Wear the Mask” the speaker wears a mask to hide his internal suffering because he does not want the rest of the world to think he is weak. This poem relates the prejudice black people face against white people. The speaker starts the poem with the lines, “We wear the mask that grins and lies,” (1). Here he describes the kind of “masks” that he wears.

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491 Words | 2 Pages

6 million human beings. Out of those 6 million people Elizer Wiesel survived the attempted extermination of his people. Elizer suffered through severe hunger, countless beatings, and being taken away from his family. If I had to credit 3 reasons for Elizer being alive after all he endured it would be his father staying by his side, never losing hope, and his ability to understand the reality of situations.

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840 Words | 4 Pages

To begin, I chose the poem “We Wear Mask '' written by Paul Laurence Dunbar to represent how collaboration and community bring out the best in people. First The poem shows how the Black community tries to wear mask because they scared to show their identity. They were scared to show them there true self because they knew the white community wouldn’t respect them because of there color. Not only that they knew that the white community didn’t respect them for who they are

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1071 Words | 5 Pages

This is illuminated through the way slaves fight back, the hate felt

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1280 Words | 6 Pages

The mask is thus a metaphor for social performance by African- American’s to avoid the consequences associated with telling the truth about their experiences with racial injustice and their feelings about it. The mask wearer is portrayed as having to pretend they are content when they had no reason to be so in the existing social context and this emphasizes the significance of the mask as a tool of survival Dunbar’s piece begins with: “We wear the mask that grins and lies / it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,”- this is quickly an indicator that this mask is a device used by its

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818 Words | 4 Pages

In Douglass’ narrative, he showed how slaves wanted to feel free and be treated like every other person. Some white people thought that if you had darker skin, you weren’t as human as they were. Douglass showed that he, and all slaves, had real emotions and real feelings, just like anybody else. “Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears” (Douglass 15).

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681 Words | 3 Pages

The poem I chose to analyze is We Wear the Mask, written by Paul Lawrence Dunbar in 1896. Its theme is about hiding our true feelings and emotions, and lying about who we are. When looking at Dunbar’s life history, and the political context at the time, we understand that he efficiently uses this theme in order to talk about how black people have to hide how they feel about their social status and the treatment they receive from white people. He conveys the theme to the audience thanks to a clever word choice. Indeed, he talks about “grin” and “smile”, using facial expressions as a description of the mask (Dunbar, lines 1 & 4).

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997 Words | 4 Pages

The poem I, Too, Sing America written by Langston Hughes shortly after World War II in 1945, is a lyrical poem about the neglected voices in America as a response to the Poem “I hear America singing.” During this time, African Americans were oppressed in society and they did not have equal rights to Caucasians. This poem expresses Langston Hughes hope for the future where black people are not oppressed when equality is achieved between races. This poem helps assert Langston Hughes’ ideas of racial pride, hope, and equality. Many black people fought in the war and after it ended, they still did not have equality, which caused questions of why they were not equal if they fought against another country.

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858 Words | 4 Pages

In the poem “I, Too”, the author Langston Hughes illustrates the key aspect of racial discrimination faces against the African Americans to further appeals the people to challenge white supremacy. He conveys the idea that black Americans are as important in the society. Frist, Hughes utilizes the shift of tones to indicate the thrive of African American power. In the first stanza, the speaker shows the sense of nation pride through the use of patriotic tone. The first line of the poem, “I, too, sing America” states the speaker’s state of mind.

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1538 Words | 7 Pages

We Ate the Acid: A Note on Psychedelic Imagery “Symbols – symbols every where. All along my journey they flashed forth the apocalypse of utterly unimagined truths.” – Fitz Hugh Ludlow Psychedelic art typically contains a number of recurring motifs. Examples include circles, spirals, eyes, concentric shapes, grids, landscapes, nudity, long hair, skeletons and mushrooms. Other common motifs are various kinds of non-human animals, vegetation, space scenery and mandalas.

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