Jordan Harrop

English 101: Writing 1

Mrs. Williams
Culture, Society and Me Essay

Ozymandias

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".

Percy Bysshe Shelly

A good friend once told me that when a man dies, he is buried in the

ground and forgotten. He elaborated by saying that what a man does in life is for

his enjoyment and not for others. He tried to show the connection between time

and man’s existence. Although his argument was very appealing and well

thought out – I have always fundamentally disagreed with him on this topic.

Even though a man is gone, the mere idea of him can live forever. A man’s

legacy is the bedrock of his immortality. I pondered whether I would be able to

create a legacy that would be worth remembering.

 The front cover of the CD package is a picture of George

Washington with my face placed over his. I do this to show the question I

proposed earlier about legacy. Will I be as influential as George Washington?

Will I have a legacy as he does? These questions come into mind when I place my

face over his. I am not trying to suggest that what George Washington did with

his life was not worth anything. What I am trying to propose is this: will I be able

to live up to him, or will I grow up to be anything worth remembering.

I did this also for Franklin D. Roosevelt on the back cover of the CD

package. Both of these men, George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt, are

legends in history. Both men now have a legacy that they probably would have

never imagined when they where alive. Maybe that is why I will never know if I

will have a legacy.

On a selling standpoint, I think that this package would be appealing to

the customer in different ways. Modern music is based on themes that revolve

around the artist being successful. Some songs such as this include: “I Made It”

by Young Money, “Lose Yourself” by Eminem and “Empire State of Mind” by

Jay Z. Customers seeing the face of an artist on the bodies of Washington and

Roosevelt will be interested in buying the cd, because the artist is shown to have

power and influence. However, one could argue that the customer is not seeing
my true objective. What people perceive from the front cover is somewhat

different form the true point suggested in the music.

At the top of this paper, there is a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelly. I believe

this poem can help in trying to convey my point. Ozymandias wanted future

generations to remember him for his great works. However, nothing remains of

anything he created. I wish to be remembered not as an empty name, but as

someone who has produced something worthwhile. Thus, my legacy will be my

works, not simply my name.