Select the correct answer from the drop-down menu. "We Wear the Mask" is a poem written in 1895 by the African-American poet and novelist Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). The poem reflects the experience of being black in America following the Civil War. Black Americans continued to experience intense racism and hardship during this period. Read this excerpt from the poem 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, whileWe wear the mask. We smile, but, O great Christ, our criesTo thee from tortured souls arise.We sing, but oh the clay is vileBeneath 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 sentence 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 .
"We Wear the Mask" is a poem written in 1895 by the African-American poet and novelist Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). The poem reflects the experience of being black in America following the Civil War. Black Americans continued to experience intense racism and hardship during this period.
Read this excerpt from the poem 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!
Complete the sentence to answer the question.
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