Dunbar wrote "we wear the mas

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 wear the mask,”
paul laurence dunbar

k" during a period of widespread racial discrimination in the united states. why might the wearers of the mask not want people to see their pain?

The poem describes the experience of blacks in post-Civil War America. The narrator is wearing a mask not because of double-standards or hypocrisy but to hide his pain. ... An exposition of their pain might invite contempt of White Americans, the mask allows them to function in society without displeasing others.

showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence

two factors or characteristics of a chapter that might make it difficult to read would be words i don't understand, or if i don't fully understand what's going on in the chapter. strategies i can use to get through the difficult material would be a dictionary, and re-reading previous chapters to get a better grasp of what the author is trying to say.