Ozymadias

Question 1

What are the main themes in Ozymandias?

Answer 1

• Man’s power is fleeting
• Nature’s power is endless
• Leadership -> Power can be abused
• Man vs Nature

Question 2

What is the form, rhyme and structure like in Ozymadias?

Answer 2

• Subverted sonnet form with regular rhyme and syntax -> Shows the irregularity of power
• Multiple perspectives -> Show how fleeting power is
• Tonal shift to create downfall and contrast

Question 3

What are some good quotes from Ozymandias?

Answer 3

• “Vast and trunkless legs of stone” -> Assonance
• “Shattered visage” -> Precise language
• “And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command” -> Polysyndeton
• “Passions…survive” -> Personification -> Contrast
“Lifeless things” -> Precise adjective -> Contrast
• “Look on my works” -> Imperative
• “Nothing beside remains” -> Short syntax
• “Boundless and bare” -> Hyperbole

Question 4

What effect does “vast and trunkless legs of stone” have?

Answer 4

• How man tries to make himself powerful

* Destruction of power

Question 5

What effect does “shattered visage” have?

Answer 5

• Destruction of power

Question 6

What effect does “and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command”?

Answer 6

• Build up of man’s cruelty

Question 7

What effect do “passions…survive” and “lifeless things” have?

Answer 7

• Man’s cruelty survives

* Destruction of power but evil survives

Question 8

What effect does “look on my works” have?

Answer 8

• Build up of power

* Shows ruthlessness and arrogance

Question 9

What effect does “boundless and bare” have?

Answer 9

• Juxtaposed to the ‘nothing’

* Highlights nature’s endlessness

Question 10

What effect does “nothing beside remains”?

Answer 10

• Shows downfall of man’s power
• Allows tonal shift to happen
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