"We Wear the Mask"

A mask is not just for robbers who want to hide their identities. In the poem, "We Wear the Mask," Paul Laurence Dunbar, a son of former slaves, suggests that some people wear masks in order to hide the pain that others do not want to hear about (which robs them of their true identities).

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 7 Unit 4's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, maggie and milly and molly and may, Mother to Son, Haikus, It Happened in Montgomery, Monologues, The Raven, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Casey at the Bat, Outlaws and Highwaymen, The Highwayman, We Wear the Mask, Twelfth Night
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. mask
    a covering to disguise or conceal the face
    We wear the mask that grins and lies
  2. shade
    protect from light, heat, or view
    It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes
  3. debt
    money or goods or services owed by one person to another
    This debt we pay
  4. guile
    shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception
    to human guile
  5. myriad
    a large indefinite number
    And mouth with myriad subtleties
  6. subtlety
    a fine difference in meaning, opinion, or attitude
    And mouth with myriad subtleties
  7. wise
    evidencing the possession of inside information
    Why should the world be over- wise,
    In counting all our tears and sighs?
  8. arise
    originate or come into being
    We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
    To thee from tortured souls arise.
  9. vile
    causing or able to cause nausea
    We sing, but oh the clay is vile
  10. otherwise
    in another and different manner
    But let the world dream otherwise
Created on September 15, 2014 (updated September 15, 2014)

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