Poetry is a way of expressing feelings and thoughts on paper. Paul Laurence Dunbar and his ex-wife, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, both wrote poems to express their thoughts and feelings towards different subjects. This essay presents a discussion of the comparisons and contrasts of the poems “I Sit and Sew” and “We Wear the Mask.” “We Wear the Mask” was written by Paul Laurence Dunbar and in many ways sheds light on what it means to experience the physical, mental, and spiritual oppression of being black in a predominantly white society. The poem "I sit and sew" by Alice Dunbar-Nelson is about the torment and uselessness felt by a woman in a predominantly male society. A mutual similarity in the two poems is the discussion of the suffering of oppression. “We Wear the Mask” deals with racial oppression while “I Sit and Sew” deals with gender oppression. Each poem has its own way of dealing with oppression. Paul L. Dunbar chooses to "wear a mask." The mask is a construct designed to disguise our true self. Instead of revealing frowns and tears, the mask of the gri project...