This is an example of how you might approach the task for the poem Ozymandias - which you may not do!

Practice notes

 

Ozymandias

By Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.

And on the pedestal these words appear --

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.'

 

Introduction:

Persuasive device – Perhaps a 10 second clip or still photo from the scenes of the appointment of the new North Korean leader? Rhetorical question – “When we look at the world around us, isn’t an examination of the way human beings exercise power still something that we can, and perhaps should, engage in?"

 

Thesis: In his poem, Ozymandias, Percy Shelley certainly presents an idea which has relevance for the global citizens of the 21^st century.  In just 14 lines Shelley captures the essence of a particularly prominent human characteristic – the tendency to allow power and status to go to one’s head. The poem positions readers to understand that such pride in one's power and belief in its longevity is a delusion.

 

Who will connect with this: Almost anybody alive could be expected to connect with this idea. In the 21st century we see examples every day in the media of people who seem to have exactly Ozymansias' view of themselves. (List some examples). Those interested in politics and the history of politics might be especially interested. The poem could almost be read as a warning to those in positions of power or who desire power that it is more ephemeral than we think and our view of ourselves may not be shared by others.

 

 

Body:

The poem is a sonnet and the first section presents readers with an interesting scenario but not one in which the idea is clearly relevant to those of us living in the modern world. We need to read through to the end of the poem before this relevance becomes completely apparent. Shelley does immediately engage our attention though through the use of the first person pronoun as he begins to tell his story – “I met a..”. We immediately feel as if we are involved in a chain of storytelling. It’s a little like hearing the story of a friend’s adventure from a third party. So, in fact, it is “the traveller” who is speaking to us, not the poet. To the 21^st century reader who is perhaps a little wary of poetry as a medium, this might in fact help to overcome some of our natural suspicion.

 

We are also immediately taken to the “antique land” where the events have taken place and the traveller begins a description of what he or she saw. Although we are not yet sure that we can connect with the ideas, we know we can connect with the imagery used to present this scene to us. We have a sense of having been transported to some desolate area in the Middle East, Egypt or Saudi Arabia or some exotic place where these two “vast and trunkless legs stand in the desert”. Perhaps the 21^st century reader, with the advantage of memories of having seen the sphinx and the pyramids at least on television or at the movies, if not in real life, is in a better position to relate to this than Shelley’s 19^th century reader. Even without this, the language used  creates a vivid picture – the “trunkless legs ” and the “shattered visage” can be imagined because of the power of the language choices to create a visual image for the reader.