LITER ATUR E 5B
TEACHER’S NOTES
AUTHORS: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Horace Smith,
Emma Lazarus
TITLE: Ozymandias, The New Colossus
THEMES: Admiration, Fame (Unit 6)
Fairness and honesty (Unit 9)
WRITING: Writing about a local monument
THINK LITERATURE: The sonnet
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Of the three poets in this worksheet, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–
1822) is by far the most important. He was a major Romantic
poet. Shelley was also a radical who challenged the political and
religious ideas of the time. He was a friend of Lord Byron and was
influenced by William Godwin, another progressive thinker. The
themes of individual, spiritual freedom and the political abuse of
power are important to Shelley’s work and impact on the poem
Ozymandias.
Horace Smith (1779–1849) was part of Shelley’s social circle. He
wrote poems and novels as a hobby. He worked very successfully
in finance.
Emma Lazarus (1849–1887) was born in New York. She studied
British and American literature from an early age and developed
a keen interest in both art and politics. Although The New
Colossus is her most famous work she wrote extensively on social
and literary topics. Her home in New York is now one of the city’s
Women’s Rights Historic Sights.
2 Read through the introduction.
INTRODUCTION
3 Read the text again and answer the questions.
Ask students if they have heard of Shelley/Smith and
the English Romantic poets such as Lord Byron, John
Keats etc.
START THINKING …
To add more content to the discussion questions, bring
in pictures of statues and monuments from around the
world. Try and avoid discussing the Statue of Liberty as
this is the focus of the second extract. Try and make
some of the statues abstract to encourage prediction and
speculation (Henry Moore’s Nuclear Power in Chicago,
for example). Establish different reasons why statues
and monuments are placed in public locations. These
might include commemorating an important historical
figure (Nelson’s column), remembering people who lost
their lives (cenotaphs, the Atocha memorial), religious
reasons (The Spring Temple Buddha), symbols of
power – Kings, Queens, rulers (Lenin, Abraham Lincoln)
etc. Students can work in pairs or small groups to
discuss the questions followed by a discussion with the
whole class about ideas that arose as you monitor the
discussions.
Think Level 5 Literature 5B Teacher’s Notes
Background: The Sonnet
The sonnet is a classical form used by poets for centuries. Said to have
been invented by Giacomo da Lentini in the 12th century, it consists of
fourteen-lines in a carefully structured thematic organisation.
Two sonnet forms – the Petrarchan and the Shakespearean –
have had the greatest influence on the evolution of the form.
The Petrarchan sonnet uses two stanzas: the octave (the first
eight lines) followed by the answering sestet (the final six lines).
The rhyme scheme is abba, abba, cdecde or cdcdcd.
When the sonnet form was brought to England it evolved into the
Shakespearean form using three quatrains and a couplet following
the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The final, rhyming couplet
has a more powerful sense of conclusion than the Petrarchan.
Many sonnets have 3 sections:
1) Presentation of an idea;
2) A reflection on the idea;
3) A resolution.
In the Shakespearean sonnet 2) occurs around line 9 and is
called ‘the turn’, and the resolution is the final rhyming couplet.
Although modern sonnet writers are free to use irregular line
length and non-rhyming endings, the formal appeal of writing to
fairly strict guidelines remains a great attraction. Modern sonnet
writers include Julia Alvarez, Carol Ann Duffy, Seamus Heaney
and Sylvia Plath.
It is quite common for writers to create a sonnet sequence
around a connecting theme – Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence
about a young man and a dark lady is probably the most famous.
Answers
1 In Shelley – the ‘I’ of the poem, the traveller, the sculptor,
the ‘mighty.’
In Smith – the hunter in the future.
2 Shelley’s statue has two legs and a face whereas Smith’s
just has one leg. Both statues are broken and in ruins.
3 Smith uses the word ‘wonder’ to mean something
wonderful or impressive (‘the wonders of my hand’ and
also as a verb to mean a feeling of amazement or surprise
‘express / Wonder’). The words are clearly from the same
root but there is a difference in how they are used.
4 Ask students to explain and compare their choices. The
most often quoted line from the poem is Look on my
Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
5 One is the leg of the Ozymandias statue, the other is
something from Smith’s own time he imagines someone
in the future sees.
6 Students can analyse the line endings and try to identify
the rhymes. It is important to point out that pronunciation
changes over time, so that what today might appear not
to fully rhyme probably did when they were written.
What’s interesting here is that neither poem follows a
formal Petrarchan or Shakespearean classic form, but
contain elements of both. The schemes are as follows:
Shelley – abab/acdc/edefef.
Smith – abba/baba/ccdcee.
Point out Smith’s use of a final rhyming couplet, typical of
the Shakespearean sonnet.
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4 Answers
Answers
1 b 2 a 3 c 4 a 5 b
VOCABULARY
5 4 The USA was open to immigrants keen to make a new
Answers
visage frowning boundless wilderness sneer
ROLE PLAY
6 If you think students need more ideas for their
dialogues suggest the following:
• Why was the traveller in that part of the world?
• Was the traveller searching for the statue, or was it
found by chance?
• What impression did it make on the traveller?
• Was the journey difficult?
• Would the traveller like to go back?
LISTENING
Background information
The Statue of Liberty, which is in the harbour of New York, was
opened in 1886. The poem was added to the statue in 1903. The
statue was the first thing most immigrants coming to the States
would have seen. Many immigrants were escaping poverty,
starvation and political and religious persecution in Europe. You
might want to point out the change in attitudes to immigration
that have appeared not just in the USA, but in many countries in
recent years. If appropriate, this could lead to a discussion about
the issue of immigration and our willingness to help people who
have left their homes in search of a better life.
7 Students discuss the questions before listening. With
the whole class, pool ideas and suggestions. If any
students have been to New York ask them what they
thought about the statue – was it bigger or smaller
than they had expected? Did they notice the poem on
it?
Students listen and match A and B. This activity
provides an opportunity to work on vocabulary
before the more open discussion question in the
following exercise.
Answers
mighty woman mother of exiles glows welcome
ancient lands huddled masses silent lips
8 Listen again and answer the questions. Students can
work on the questions in pairs before inviting a class
discussion.
Think Level 5 Literature 5B Teacher’s Notes
1 All three are mentioned but the emphasis is really on
the future – the hopeful future the statue is offering the
people who arrive in the USA.
2 They are a guide in the darkness, they represent hope,
possibility and generosity.
3 To immigrants but perhaps also to the world, defining the
spirit of the USA.
start in America and escape the problems in Europe in the
early 20th century.
AUDIOSCRIPT
The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
WRITING: WRITING ABOUT A LOCAL
MONUMENT
9 Point out that this is a letter to a friend so, although
students will need to include information and
details, the style and register should be friendly and
helpful. Revise greetings and signing off for this
kind of writing task.
Students might need to research a local statue or
their statue can be fictional.
LITERATURE
10 Did you know?
Students can work together and think of possible
interpretations: CHARACTERISATION
Suggested answers
WIT
1 Power, strength, the ability to hunt and kill weaker
beings, pride and knowledge of where people are.
2 Forgiveness, hope, recovery and reconciliation.
SHORT STORIES
GOTHIC NOVELS
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