P&C: Ozymandias

Who wrote 'Ozymandias'?

• Percy Shelley

• William Blake

• William Wordsworth

• Robert Browning

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

What form is 'Ozymandias' written in?

• Sonnet

• Monologue

• Haiku

• Free verse

Answer explanation

Sonnets usually explore themes related to love, so Shelley may have used this form to emphasise Ozymandias' love for himself (and by extension the egotistical nature of many arrogant dictators throughout history). It is also a very short form of poem at only fourteen lines, reflecting the transience of Ozymandias' power in comparison to the endless nature of time.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

The statue's face has a '​ (a)   of cold ​ (b)   '

• sneer
• command
• frown
• smile
• anger
• contempt

Answer explanation

The plosives in 'cold command' create a sense of harshness, emphasising that Ozymandias was a brutal and unforgiving ruler. His 'sneer' also indicates that he viewed his subjects with contempt.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

The statue's inscription begins 'My ​ (a)   is Ozymandias, ​ (b)   of ​ (c)   '

• name
• king
• kings
• god
• gods
• ruler
• crown

Tags

CCSS.RF.3.3B

CCSS.RF.3.3C

CCSS.RF.3.3D

CCSS.RF.4.3A

CCSS.RF.5.3A

The statue's inscription ends 'Look on my ​ (a)   , ye ​ (b)   , and ​ (c)   !'

• works
• Mighty
• despair
• words
• world
• gods
• decline

Answer explanation

Shelley criticises the hubris of oppressive leaders here by creating irony as Ozymandias refers to 'my works', when really the buildings and monuments he is referring to would have been built by his subjects and slaves.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Immediately after the inscription on the pedestal, the next words of the poem are...

• 'The lone and level sands'

• 'Nothing beside remains.'

• 'Stand in the desert.'

• 'Surrounded by emptiness'

Answer explanation

This creates bathos (a sense of anticlimax) as Ozymandias' arrogant exclamation builds up a sense of awe at his power, only to be followed by a short, blunt image of emptiness. The caesura at the end of 'Nothing beside remains' adds to this sense of bluntness and reminds us that in the grand scheme of time, Ozymandias' power and influence was only transient.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Which of these does not emphasise how isolated the statue now is?

• 'The lone and level sands stretch far away'

• 'Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare'

• 'Nothing beside remains'

• 'stamped on these lifeless things'

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.9

CCSS.RI.11-12.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Who is Ozymandias referring to by 'ye Mighty'?

• The gods

• His subjects

• Other pharaohs

• The king

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

How many voices/speakers are there in the poem?

• One

• Two

• Three

• Four

Answer explanation

The poem opens with the speaker telling the reader about their encounter with a traveller: 'I met a traveller from an antique land...'. The voice then switches to the traveller ('Who said: ...') and later in the poem we also get the voice of Ozymandias through the words on the pedestal: 'My name is Ozymandias...'

All of this creates distance between the reader and Ozymandias, emphasising how his power and reputation has been lost over time.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

What is used in the poem to symbolise Ozymandias' power (and its loss over time)?

• The statue

• The desert

• Metaphors

• The sand

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.7

CCSS.RI.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.7