1. American Realism
Poetry

2. Opening
Create the face you want the whole world to see. How do you want others to see you at all times?

3. Learning Targets
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

4. Paul Laurence Dunbar’s We Wear The Mask (1896)
Discussion Questions:
What poetic elements do you see?
What is the universal theme of this poem?
On an index card, write your date of birth but not your name—Write about a time you were deeply pained and put on a nonchalant face for the rest of the world.

5. Paul Laurence Dunbar’s We Wear The Mask (1896)
Media Question:
(Respond)How does the clip from Lee Daniel’s The Butler (2012) relate to Dunbar’s poem.

6. Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s Casey At The Bat (1888)
Discussion Questions:
Summarize the poem.
What poetic elements do you notice?
What is the universal theme of this poem?
How is Casey representative of characters in a narrative in the literary period, American Realism?
On the other side of the same index card—Write a couple of sentences about a time where you were in a contest, game, or sporting event and you bragged the entire time—and lost.

7. Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s Casey At The Bat (1888)
Media Question:
(Respond)Does the cartoon add any layers of meaning to the poem or is it purely for entertainment value? Be sure to use specific examples from both the text and cartoon in your answer.

8. Closing
What everyday obligations force humans to wear a mask? Why is this the way of the world?
What does arrogance cost people? When is arrogance necessary?
How do these poems differ from the poems of Dickinson, Whitman, Poe?