Question

read this excerpt from \we wear the mask\ by paul laurence dunbar and answer the question that follows:
we wear the mask that grins and lies,
it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes, —
this debt we pay to human guile;
with torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
and mouth with myriad subtleties.

why should the world be over-wise,
in counting all our tears and sighs?
nay, let them only see us, while
we wear the mask.

we smile, but, o great christ, our cries
to thee from tortured souls arise.
we sing, but oh the clay is vile
beneath our feet, and long the mile;
but let the world dream otherwise,
we wear the mask!

what effect does the poet achieve by repeating the phrase, \we wear the mask\ throughout the poem? complete the sentences to answer the question.

in the poem \we wear the mask,\ paul laurence dunbar voices his repressed anger and frustration toward american society. he repeats the title phrase three times in the poem, using the words mask and we to show that ____. the first use of the phrase is matter-of-fact. in the second stanza, the statement is followed by a period, which shows resignation. however, at the end of the poem, dunbar almost shouts the phrase defiantly. the mask seems to become something he wears proudly. through this gradual emphasis on the phrase, dunbar could be implying that ____.

Explanation:

The repetition of "We wear the mask" emphasizes a collective experience of concealing pain to navigate a hostile society. The shift in punctuation and tone (from matter-of-fact to defiant) frames the mask as evolving from a tool of compliance to a subtle act of resistance, letting the speaker hold onto self-worth while hiding their suffering.

Answer:

1. the speaker and their community are forced to hide their true feelings and experiences from the outside world
2. the act of masking has shifted from a survival tactic to an act of quiet resistance, a way to retain dignity in the face of oppression