Select the correct answer from each drop-down menu.

read this excerpt from "we wear the mask" by paul laurence dunbar and answer the question that follows:

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 over-wise,
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!

what effect does the poet achieve by repeating the phrase, "we wear the mask" throughout the poem? complete the sentences to answer the question.

in the poem "we wear the mask," paul laurence dunbar voices his repressed anger and frustration toward american society. he repeats the title phrase three times in the poem, using the words mask and we to show that
a). he is voicing feelings shared by all humans regardless of race
b). he is speaking about a common experience that the african american community shares
c). every individual experiences some kind of alienation, though their experiences may differ
d). human survival depends on deception, hypocrisy, and lying

the first use of the phrase is matter-of-fact. in the second stanza, the statement is followed by a period, which shows resignation. however, at the end of the poem, dunbar almost shouts the phrase defiantly. the mask seems to become something he wears proudly. through this gradual emphasis on the phrase, dunbar could be implying that
a). people can triumph over suffering by accepting their circumstances
b). people can protect themselves from being hurt by hiding their true self from the outside world
c). african americans can survive bad situations only by being defiant
d). african americans used the "mask" to hide their suffering and gain a kind of victory against society

D:African americans used the "mask" to hide their suffering and gain a kind of victory against society, is the correct answer

with mrs. linde, nora reveals her insensitivity and lack of shame about the forgery she committed. she implies that mrs. linde has obviously aged since they last met 10 years earlier, which accounts for nora’s inability to recognize her old friend. although nora seems sympathetic to mrs. linde’s plight, she can’t seem to control herself from boasting about her three children, her husband’s recent promotion, and how good she feels to finally have some money to spend. in a way, she seems to be flaunting her good fortune in front of mrs. linde who, deprived of all these benefits, has come to ask nora for . it is also through her interactions with mrs. linde that we realize something deeper lies under nora’s seemingly childish exterior. she reveals the secret of her forgery to mrs. linde and seems to see herself as quite resourceful for having done it.

in the company of dr. rank, nora is freer than she is with her own husband. she openly laughs with joy at knowing that all the other bank employees will be under her husband’s control. she offers dr. rank a macaroon, apparently forgetting that he knows she is forbidden to eat them. she then quickly covers for herself by claiming that mrs. linde brought them. nora seems much more assertive and free with these other characters, as well as unabashedly willing to scheme, lie, and justify her transgressions as altruistic.  

krogstad provides an interesting parallel to nora. like nora, he too is guilty of committing forgery, for which torvald condemns him and decides to fire him. although krogstad is a man and nora a woman, their crimes of forgery unite them. in fact, krogstad might represent what nora would be like if she were a man and were not strictly scrupulous like her husband is. for example, she tells mrs. linde that "a barrister's profession is such an uncertain thing, especially if he won't undertake unsavoury cases; and naturally torvald has never been willing to do that." perhaps nora would have delved into the unsavory, given how opposite she is to her husband. krogstad's is also the only harsh voice of reality that nora is forced to hear, and that is because he blackmails her for her regaining his job at the bank. finally, torvald’s reaction to krogstad’s forgery seems to foreshadow his harsh and cold reaction to nora’s forgery.