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    Analyzing 'We Wear the Mask' and 'Accountability' by Paul Laurence Dunbar

    Number of Pages: 5

     

    Summary of the research paper:

    This two apparently dissimilar poems are subjected to the same analysis of subject matter, style, and tone. There are no other sources cited in the bibliography.

    Name of Research Paper File: TG15_TGdunbar.rtf

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    twenty-first century. He was not the first poet to write in a "black dialect" (Gates 884), but he was the first to artistically employ it to truly celebrate the  African-American experience. Dunbar understood how the regional speech patterns of his race revealed much not only about the geographical area, but also spoke volumes about the people themselves.  While many of his poetry has been condemned by contemporary critics who regard it as stereotypical of the impoverished or poorly educated African-American male, Dunbar would argue that was exactly  the point. His poems forced the white establishment to confront the African-American experience from the black perspective. It also serves as a reminder to future generations of how  African Americans managed to survive a long history of oppression with dignity, despite societys refusal to acknowledge this oppression and its unwillingness to "see" the oppressed for the proud people  they were. On the surface, it would appear that there couldnt be two poems more dissimilar than "Accountability" and "We Wear the Mask." "Accountability" was composed in Dunbars  trademark dialect style, and "We Wear the Mask" features the more conventional literary form. In "Accountability," Dunbars tone resembles that of the African-American minstrels and folk tales, which were  traditionally transferred orally from one generation to another. The struggles of the slaves were captured in these work songs and oral narratives, which captured the essence of their struggle,  frustrations, and their need to believe in the benevolence of a higher power. In "Accountability," he reflects the attitudes of the slave, who needs to rationalize his lowly position  in society by reminding himself that he, too, is one of Gods creatures. All of these creatures were intentionally created differently, and it is these differences that should be 

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