AU Montgomery We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar Discussion

TASK #3

Note: This assignment is not an essay.

Now, select one of the poems listed below for further study. Next, you will create an outline of your analysis assignment due for Task #4, which will be based on your poem selection.

An outline is just a plan and way to get you started. Be sure to use the following resource for structuring your outline:

Literary Essay Outline (my favorite)

How to Create an Outline

Poems

Selection A:

• Kim Addonzio’s “The First Poem for You”
• William Shakespeare’s “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”
• John Donne’s “The Flea”

Selection B:

• Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays”
• Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”
• Seamus Heaney’s “Digging”

Selection C:

• William Blake’s “A Poison Tree”
• Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”
• Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death”
• Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask”

Suggestions:

• Compare and contrast how the poets use figurative language and tone to develop the theme in each text.
• As you construct your assignment, you may wish to consider the following:
  • imagery
  • metaphors
  • the poets’ distinctive voices
  • the poets’ specific choices of words
  • the poets’ uses of sentence structure

NOTE: This task is the OUTLINE only, but I have included the upcoming Task #4’s instructions below in order to help you with creating the outline. Submit only your outline for Task #3.

Task #4 Instructions

In your analysis, focus on five of the literary devices listed below:

1. Tone
2. Diction
3. Imagery
4. Comparisons (Simile and metaphor)
5. Other figures of speech (hyperbole, personification, pun)
6. Irony
7. Symbolism
8. Allusion
9. Sound (alliteration, rhyme)
10. Form

For the five areas you choose, identify each device in the poem you selected and discuss in detail how each affects the poem’s overall meaning. For example, if you choose to talk about comparisons, then you need to identify at least one simile or metaphor in the poem and explain how the simile or metaphor contributes to the meaning of the poem. Suppose a poem entitled “Dating Woes” contains the metaphor “George is a hog”; you would explain how this metaphor implies that George is sloppy and does not take care of himself or his surroundings, which in turn serves to support the poem’s overall idea that sloppy people have trouble finding dates.

Complete your work in a .doc or .docx file. At the top of the page, give a header as follows:

Student name (Your name here)

(Instructor’s name here)

ENG 102

Date (put the actual date here)

Then center the title of the poem and its corresponding page number. Number #1-5, listing one literary device beside each number. Follow by giving your identification and discussion. See the example below:

1. Comparison–“Dating Woes” contains many similes and metaphors. One metaphor is “George is a hog.” This metaphor implies that George’s characteristics resemble those of a pig. He is sloppy in appearance and in surroundings. A pig relishes in a mud bath, so George must not be bothered by a lack of cleanliness. The metaphor supports the overall message of the poem by indicating that sloppiness is one deterrent to finding a date.