May 2019

Your exam will look like this

(but probably with a different
poem!)

You need to spend this half-

term’s lessons annotating your
copy of the anthology properly
so we can revise in year 11!

You won’t have the anthology in the exam!

A01 • Clear and intelligent interpretation of the poems
(12 • Clear and precise comparison of the poems
marks) • Select a wide range of quotations which justify your points
A02 • Analyse the poets’ use of language
• Analyse the poets’ use of structure
(12 Clearly explain the effects on the reader
•
marks) • Use subject specific terminology
A03
(6 • Relate the poems to their historical and social contexts
marks)

These are the skills we need to

work on.

They should help you with

every other topic we look at in
English, too!
 What is Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’ about?

Knowledge
Ozymandias is a Romantic poem written about a statue of an Ancient Egyptian ruler
called ‘Ozymandias’. Shelley uses the poem to talk about power, rulers, and nature.

Skills:
Close reading of the poem, focussed on meaning and content.

Understanding:
Annotate your anthology to demonstrate your understanding.
 Keep your
annotations
neat and
organised!
 There are three
different ‘voices’ in
the poem. Find them!
Who do these three
voices belong to?
c) Who is this and why is he
included in the poem?

b) What exactly has this

“traveller” seen? How
would Ozymandias feel
about this?

a) Ozymandias is a ruler
from ancient Egypt.
How did he want to be
remembered?
A)
Ozymandias wanted to be remembered as a supreme ruler – ‘king of kings’.
He wanted people to know what exactly he’d achieved in life – ‘look on my
works’. He wanted even powerful people to be in awe of his own power – ‘ye
mighty and despair.’ Above all else he wanted to live on in people’s memories!

B)
The traveller has seen the legs of a formerly complete statue of Ozymandias –
‘two vast and trunkless legs of stone’. The head of the statue is half-buried in the
sand nearby: ‘near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies’. The face
has a ‘frown’, a ‘wrinkled lip’ and a ‘sneer of cold command’. You can make out
Ozymandias’ words at the base of the statue, and it is all surrounded by desert.
The statue was left to show how proud and powerful Ozymandias was, but it is
now a ruin. Ozymandias would be disappointed in his legacy.

C)
The first voice – the speaker of the poem – is there to stress how far removed from
day-to-day life Ozymandias now is. His statue is in an ‘antique land’ which doesn’t
even seem worthy of giving a name. Ozymandias’ goal was to be remembered.
Including this first voice in the poem is another way of proving that Ozymandias
failed.
 Write a short
summary of the
poem in your
anthology.

A01 •
Clear and intelligent
interpretation of the poems
 How is Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’ written?

Knowledge
Shelley uses a sonnet form and clear language devices.

Skills:
Close reading of the poem, focussed on language and structure.

Understanding:
Annotate your anthology to demonstrate your understanding.
I met a traveller from an antique land Can you spot any
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone language devices
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, you already
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, know?
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Think-Pair-Share
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."

• Analyse the poets’ use of language

A02 • Clearly explain the effects on the reader
• Use subject specific terminology
 Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies…
Shelley uses sibilance – the repetition of the ‘s’ sound – to describe how
the statue looks nowadays. Sibilance usually creates a hostile and
ominous atmosphere.

What does this suggest about Shelley’s feelings towards the statue?
How does the reader react to the statue’s description?

• Analyse the poets’ use of language

A02 • Clearly explain the effects on the reader
• Use subject specific terminology
 The poem describes Ozymandias’ “frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command…”

Shelley uses imagery to depict Ozymandias’ appearance as well as

his personality. What impression do you think Shelley is trying to
create of Ozymandias as a man and as a ruler? Which individual
words contribute to this impression? How does the reader react to
the description of Ozymandias’ statue’s face?

• Analyse the poets’ use of language

A02 • Clearly explain the effects on the reader
• Use subject specific terminology
 Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Shelley uses alliteration when describing the huge expanse of desert

which surrounds the statue. The letters repeat themselves, and the
reader sees the same thing over and over, just like anyone at the site
of the statue would see nothing but sand wherever he looked. This
emphasises how big of a failure Ozymandias’ efforts to be
remembered have been.

• Analyse the poets’ use of language

A02 • Clearly explain the effects on the reader
• Use subject specific terminology
I met a traveller from an antique land Count the lines!
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, What do you
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, know about this
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, type of poetry?
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."

• Analyse the poets’ use of structure

A02 • Clearly explain the effects on the reader
• Use subject specific terminology
The poem is a sonnet – a traditional form of love poetry comprised of 14 lines. Sonnets come
in two main forms, and their structures and rhyme-schemes are shown below…
Petrarchan sonnets contain an octave Shakespearean sonnets contain three
(8 lines) + a sestet (6 lines) with the quatrains (4 lines) and a rhyming couplet
rhyme-scheme: (2 lines) with the rhyme-scheme:
A A
B B
B A
A B
Does Shelley’s sonnet fit either
A C
of these two patterns?
B D
B C
Why might Shelley have chosen
A D
to ‘corrupt’ the man-made rules
C E
of poetry in this way?
D F
E E
What does it tell us about
C F
Shelley’s views on Ozymandias?
D G
E G

• Analyse the poets’ use of structure

A02 • Clearly explain the effects on the reader
• Use subject specific terminology
 Why was Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’ written?

Knowledge
Shelley uses his poetry to talk about his views on society and the world around him.

Skills:
Link contextual factors to textual details.

Understanding:
Annotate your anthology to demonstrate your understanding.
 Shelley was a romantic poet concerned with emotions
rather than logic, and who believed that the powers of
art and nature were stronger, and more important, than
the power of man. Shelley passionately hated the
monarchy and the ruling classes.

Find evidence in the poem which relate

to the three strands of Shelly’s beliefs
outlined above.

A03 • Relate the poems to their

historical and social contexts
 We obviously can’t do any comparing yet as
we’ve only looked at one poem. We’ll look at
obvious comparisons as we go, and do some
comparing at the end, but your job over the
coming weeks is to let me – and the whole
class – know if you spot any links, connections,
similarities or differences as we study more
and more of the poems in the collection!

A01