Poem Journal

We Wear The Mask: Paul Lawrence Dunbar Joaquin
Literary Critique 1-2-07


S: Someone who is trying to hide behind a mask from the malevolent concepts of life
O: During harsh times
A: To all the people who are being torture by the malevolent concepts of life
P: To portray their believes and feelings towards the way life treats them
S: The cruelty of life and effect on humans
Tone: Protesting, Depressing

This poem uses repetition, end rhyme, and end-stopped line. The way in which Paul uses repetition in his poem is that he repeats the phrase “We wear the mask” at the end of each stanzas. By doing this he adds more meaning to his poem because it reminds the reader that the speaker of the poem is depressed and is forced to hide behind a mask. Moreover Paul also uses end-stopped line in this poem at the end of each stanza. At the end of each stanza Paul repeats the phrase “We wear the mask” with different punctuation in both of the times he repeats the phrase at the end of the stanza. Paul ends his poem by repeating the phrase “We wear the mask” except that he ends the poem with an exclamation mark. This punctuation allows Paul to emphasize the idea that the people forced to wear the mask are not happy. Finally Paul also uses end rhyme in his poem. The poem rhymes at the end of each line adding a better tone and meaning to the poem. I believe that Paul London did do a good job conveying his message through this poem. As I read the poem my feelings are depressing and make me think about how cruel life is being to humans. The poem conveys a tone that goes along with the meaning of the poem. The repetition of the phrase “ we wear the mask” keeps reminding the reader that the poem is meant to be depressing therefore the repetition in the poem also allows Paul to portray his meaning of the poem. Paul chose specific poetic devices such as end rhyme, end-stopped line, and repetition because he comprehended that these devices would add a special meaning and tone to the poem.