1. “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Lawrence 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!

3. Printer Steamboat pilot Newspaper writer Pseudonym “Mark Twain” (weight in the river) appears Novelist Samuel Clemens 1835-1910

4. Historical context 1835-1845 pre-Civil War years Self-improvement, industry, and geographical expansion-the ideal of progress dominated life and philosophy 1821 Missouri Compromise- admitted as a slave state

5. Although slavery outlawed in Illinois and other northern states, racial prejudice thrived Free states restricted participation of African American in civil life Fugitive Slave Law-must have papers By time Twain wrote H. Finn US was socially and economically polarized. 14 th Amendment (granted citizenship to all born in US) and Ku Klux Klan both enacted

6. Allusions and references to folklore, customs, beliefs & politics Don Quixote, 1001 Nights, Man in the Iron Mask, Count of Monte Cristo, Robinson Crusoe, Confidence-Man (duke and king) Anti-intellectual, backwoods humor (Johnson J. Hooper) Pap Finn-stereotype of squatter

7. Humor & realism Colloquial language Setting, speech patterns and customs of region

8. Setting Begins in St. Petersburg, Idealized version of Hannibal Small towns he visits are the small river towns he knew & contrast between life on the river and life on shore provides central contrast and structural principle of the middle third of novel. Shore is hypocritical, authoritarian, cruel, and dangerous.

9. Structure – picaresque – novel recounting adventures of roguish hero and is episodic. Also Bildungsroman (coming of age) 1 st person point of view

10. Themes Civilization vs. natural instincts and nature= civilization brutality of civilization pitted against natural setting of river Prejudice and respect for human dignity=moral dilemma as an accomplice

11. Symbols: River represents life’s journey; raft=natural simplicity of novel’s protagonists; Onshore shows hypocrites, authority, cruel behavior & danger

12. Satire- target is Romantic view of life (Tom) Sir Walter Scott Grangerfords gentility

13. Irony: Situational Irony to enhance themes of prejudice vs. respect for human dignity

19. Racism Jim is frequently called a “nigger” and portrayed, especially in the early chapters, as a stereotype: ignorant, superstitious, and easily made a fool of. Keep in mind, he is viewed from Huck’s point of view who sees things from his culture and the times he lives. Jim’s character grows and develops to show Jim in a better light. He is the moral center of the novel. He is a sympathetic, noble human being.