Task

Masks to Hide/Masks to Reveal

We Wear the Mask  
by Paul Laurence Dunbar 

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
    We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
    We wear the mask!
R

1.  Research masks from around the world. 

2.  Create a mask of your own from paper mache to represent some aspect of your identity.

3.  Write one paragraph explaining the symbolic choices in your mask and how they reveal or conceal some aspect of your culture and identity.

4.  Compose a poem relating to your mask.

5.  Participate in an exhibit with classmates, sharing your mask, paragraph, and poem.