“‘When He Is Least Himself’: Dunbar and Double Consciousness in African American Poetry Compared with Wagner, Jean. “Paul Laurence Dunbar”

Your essay must take a critical position on a point of contention in the interpretation and understanding of the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. After introducing the point of contention (disagreement), its importance, and your thesis, you must summarize the positions taken on that disagreement by your source articles. You must then establish your own particular approach to the poetry and the point of contention. Use close reading of Dunbar’s poetry, as well as the arguments of Whitlow, Wagner, Mullen, and the Robinsons, to establish your own interpretation of Dunbar.