We Wear A Mask, Edwin Robinson's Richard Cory, And Edgar Masters

veil to shield the emotions of bearer of the mask and personal denial of specific

In “We Wear the Mask”, Dunbar primarily employs the rhetorical device of metaphorical allusion to give the reader a sense of how African-Americans navigated socially in a traditionally white supremacist, patriarchal society. He begins his poem, with “We wear the mask that grins and lies, it hides are cheeks and shades our eyes” (Dunbar, “We Wear the Mask”). Here, he employs the use of the mask to elaborate on the “double-consciousness” that African-Americans had to exhibit in order to function during that tumultuous

To begin, a little historical context of the poem is that Dunbar’s poem was first written way before the civil rights movement, but was published in 1896, which was after the civil war. This is a response to the racial norms of the late nineteenth century. Slavery had already ended, but the South and North had a major retaliation against African Americans' rights. African Americans were denied equal opportunities in employment, education, and housing. In the poem, Dunbar said, “And mouth with myriad subtleties” (5). This line relates to the historical context because they were in a period where it would be dangerous for Blacks if they did not use the “subtleties.” This whole line expresses everything Blacks used to address White Americans when speaking to them. Knowing this helps the audience reading the poem understand the symbolism of the Mask and the “We,” which are the Black Americans, that are spoken of in the poem.

The poem “We Wear the Mask” prepares a very humanistic dissertation of what it is to be someone we are not, and why we do it on

In Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem “Richard Cory,” the narrator depicts a man who appears to have it all: wealth, looks, and charm. The narrator also explains that the entire town admires and aspires to be Richard Cory. However, everything was not as perfect in Richard Cory’s life as it seemed; at the end of the poem, the narrator describes how one summer night Richard Cory took his own life by shooting himself in the head. Because Edwin Arlington Robinson dotes on Richard Cory, the audience is shocked by the end of the poem when Cory takes his own life. Robinson utilizes word choice to elevate Richard Cory to a status above the rest of the town, establish that he has everything, and construct the idea that the townspeople admire and envy

People nowadays make quick judgments without completely knowing the real story. It is a human nature that has been carried out back in the days and surprisingly becoming a norm today. In the poem “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, the main character Richard Cory is admired by the townspeople because of his good looks, graces and wealth. Although the townspeople visualize him as a perfect royalty, Richard Cory still chooses to take his own life. Robinson utilizes the townspeople’s perspective to limit the readers’ observations in order to display how one’s appearance can be deceiving as the impressions can usually mislead assumptions about one’s real inner feelings, desires and fulfillment. Robinson lets the readers to perceive the idea that Richard Cory appears perfect in the

“We wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a late 19th century poem that millennials can relate with due to a shared trait. The poem touches on the problem of individuals hiding their true identity via a mask, thus hurting themselves in order to have a fitting identity. The poem therefore can be applied to the conditions of the aspiring young adults here in the Silicon Valley as we all wear masks in order to clash and fight our way to the pursuit of happiness.

My mask features materials such as white tissue paper, pearl balls, silver glitter, sparkly paper, silver flowers and silver pen. These materials were used on my mask to give it a bright and pure white look. Masks were worn at masquerade balls for the purpose of hiding ones true identity, wearing a mask like this would give the illusion that the wearer was perfect, or angelic. Except, for around the eyes where I also used a black marker and red glitter glue for the pattern on there. Generally the only recognisable feature on someones face while wearing a mask, are the eyes. Which happens to be the darkest part of the mask. Therefor, the mask is saying that beneath this pure and plain mask, is a flawed person, a real person.

A person may appear a certain way on the outside but in the inside they are the complete opposite. The author, Paul Lawrence Dunbar shares experiences during the slavery era at which these slaves would live their everyday lives. He writes about concealing their inner feelings and wearing a mask to hide those feelings, this I think he is conveying of the inner strength they have to keep them content with life. After all the struggles the slaves face they still remain to conceal such great pain through this mask. I think the main theme of “We wear the Mask” is Concealed Pain and Suffering, because it is the main message that is being conveyed through out the poem. Another reason, is because in this poem we realize the truth at which through

In society today often times individual’s perceptions of materialistic objects equate success and are held at a higher standard versus appreciating health and happiness. This stands true in a timeless poem written by Paul Simon, “Richard Cory”. This poem chronicles the life of a man who appears to have everything and is envied by outsiders looking in. Richard Cory is a man who, regardless of his outwards life appearance, having obtained all that individuals view as successful he eventually is found committing suicide. Simon is successful in portraying such a common misconception in a creative and nuanced way. Simon’s comparison of the upper class versus the lower class gives the reader an inside look at how deceitful perceptions can truly be. Common bystanders looking into Richard Cory’s life were constantly infatuated and envious, although it was slightly a facade and superficial. Simon uses tone, symbolism, and allusions, to argue the crippling effects of placing assumptions and helping readers appreciate life for its simplicity.

Black Americans were forced to wear masks to avoid showing their true feelings. Living behind a mask is nothing but a disguise – a disguise of hurtful truths that hid behind faces of African-Americans and that is not the way to live. As communicated through the people, African-Americans wore masks that grin and smile but behind all those grins and smiles, hearts are torn and souls miserably tortured. Furthermore, the speaker tells us that wearer of the mask wants freedom from the people who are full of guile and force them to wear mask just to lie. They need to become free from all this mistreatment and discrimination. They want to have the same rights and equality as the rest of the people in this world. It is important to note that when you specifically know Dunbar’s background, you are able to make this specific meaning about the plight of African Americans, however this poem also has a universal nature. As we have already established, we all wear masks at one time or another and so the feelings communicated by the speaker of this poem resonate with

“Richard Cory” written by Edwin Robinson, throughout this poem wants us to ask ourselves, do high-end clothes and items make us happy? Should we judge people based on their outward appearance? Are rich people always happy with their lives? After reading this poem, I realized that the answers to those questions are no. No, high-end clothes and items don 't make us happy. No, we shouldn’t judge people; we don’t know what is going on in their lives. Lastly, we don’t know the rich people personally some may not be as happy as they seem on the outside. I read once, “ Man is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny. The facade that people put forth can be a deceptive semblance of the soul, an illusion meant to hide their superficial nature.” It turns out in the end that underneath his good looks and wealth, Richard Cory is an unhappy man. Even though it appeared he had everything in one part, he had nothing in another. This poem proves that wealth, good looks and material things can’t guarantee someone’s happiness.

“Richard Cory” written by Edwin Robinson is a dramatic poem about a man whose outward appearance ultimately kills him. Throughout this poem, Edwin wants us to ask ourselves, do high-end clothes and items make us happy? Should we judge people based on their outward appearance? Are rich people always happy with their lives? After reading this poem, I realized that the answers to those questions are no. Materialistic things don 't make us happy. We shouldn’t judge people based on their outward appearance. I read once, “Man is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny. The facade that people put forth can be a deceptive semblance of the soul, an illusion meant to hide their superficial nature.” It turns out that underneath his good looks and wealth, Richard Cory was an unhappy man. Even though it appeared he had everything in one part, he had nothing in another part. This poem proves that wealth, good looks and material things can’t guarantee someone’s happiness.

“Shapeshifting requires the ability to transcend your attachments, in particular your ego attachments to identity and who you are. If you can get over your attachment to labeling yourself and your cherishing of your identity, you can be virtually anybody. You can slip in and out of different shells, even different animal forms or deity forms.” - Zeena Schreck, religious leader of the Sethian Liberation Movement. In the poem “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar the reader should learn that individuals feel the need to wear a mask to change their personality into the more ideal individual which surpasses their confidence, fear, insecurities, and emotions. This poem develops the realities about self-image and how it makes individuals act in society.

Someone may judge a book by its cover, but they don’t recognize the precise meaning until they flip through the pages. The common misconception of Richard Cory was that he had the perfect life, along with fame, fortune, and good looks, but beneath it all existed a troubled soul and abnormal mindset that no one was able to uncover until it was too late. In the story Richard Cory, by Edwin Robinson, the idea of society and one's own stereotypical mindset misinterpreted a situation that is expanded upon in this reference to the outside appearances of Richard Cory’s clinical depression.