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How Does Double Voice Affect Paul Laurence Dunbar's Writing

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Certain poets and authors have certain traits about their work that become a staple for their writing. This could be clever use of words, skillful sentence structure, or elaborate imagery; but Paul Laurence Dunbar has a very particular skill that allowed his writing and poetry to encapsulate several different meanings and lessons. This skill has become known as “Double Voice.” Writing in double voice meant that Paul Laurence Dunbar was able to write in dialect form as well as Standard English. The dialect which he wrote in was something similar to an old African American southern dialect. This allowed his work to embody a different message and cause the reader to observe his works from a different view.
Overall double voice best assisted Paul Laurence Dunbar writing about topics that would get him in a lot of trouble if he wrote in Standard English. During the times of his writings, America was still very much a …show more content…

“When Malindy Sings” and “We Wear the Mask” are two popular poems written by Dunbar. Each touch on difficulties he and other African Americans face every day. However, “When Malindy Sings” is written in dialect, while “We Wear the Mask” is not. When looking at each poem, “We Wear the Mask” has to hide the true meaning of the poem beneath beautiful word play and descriptive word play. This important to note because only the African American community would understand the true underlying message of false contentment. Then when we look at “When Malindy Sings” the message is much clearer. Because it is written in dialect, Dunbar is able to write jokes and insults that would otherwise get him arrested, maybe even killed, during the time. The poem emphasizes how exceptionally better a possible slave, Malindy, is at singing compared to her owner, Miss Lucy, even though Malindy was an untrained field slave and Miss Lucy practiced her singing off a

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