One
We wear the mask. The problem with all the answers is that all the choices are all true. All five of them. The formality of the language (it's correctness) is really jolting in its simplicity and educated exactness. It is not what we expect to see in protest poetry.
Many poems contain Biblical allusions especially those written by someone like John Dunne or John Milton.
The rhyme scheme is a bit unusual, but it is very skillfully done. The first stanza goes aabbc and the second aabc and the third is aabbcd. Rhyme improperly used is called doggerel. This isn't doggerel. The rhyme emphasized the duality of their existence.
Of all the choices, this one is the hardest one to choose. It is how a whole part of a society responds to another part of a society. It is not so much about an individual as it is about a whole class of people. We wear the mask.
If you pick E then how do you get rid of A and if you pick A how do you get rid of E?
So to ask the question, which one do you pick? I might be showing some bias here, but my choice would be B. The allusion is not just any allusion. It is to a suffering Jesus who died on the cross. Only Jesus would understand why they wear the mask. Only Jesus would understand the turmoil in their souls. I can't help the way I'm wording it. It is very unusual in this day and age to see that part of Jesus referred to in that way. I'd pick it especially if this was not multiple choice.
Two
It's anything but A. The whole point of wearing the mask is that is how the colored hide their turmoil.
Same answer for B. The colored are not at all happy. That's why they wear the mask.
There is absolutely no mention of E. No one is seeking compensation, least of all in this poem. The colored are trying to be treated in a humane way.
So the answer must lie between C and D.
I think it is C. There is no vengeance in the poem and there is no sound of wanting the whites or anyone else to have the same fate as the colored so I'd eliminate D.
