AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
1
‘Ozymandias’
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Learning Objectives:
-
AO1: Respond to the using details from the poem to support your
opinion
-
AO2: Analyse the writers’ methods (language, structure and form) and
the purposes of these methods
The title
 What is the meaning of Shelley’s title?
Ozymandias
Ozy comes from the Greek
“ozium” which means either,
‘to breathe’ or ‘air’.
Mandias comes from the
Greek “mandate” which
means ‘to rule’.
Now that you understand the meaning of the title, what do you think the poem
is going to be about?
 Make a note of your ideas.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
2
Pharaoh Facts
The gods had a little help, in the form of
pharaohs. Pharaohs were the kings of
Ancient Egypt. In hieroglyphics, pharaoh
means “great house” or “palace”, a word
that was eventually used to describe the
king himself. The ancient Egyptians saw
their pharaoh as a god, more specifically as
the god Horus. They thought that when the
pharaoh died, a new Horus was born to rule
on earth, thus achieving eternal life. In
reality, the pharaohs headed the
government, the army, set taxes, judged
criminals and were high priests of all the
temples. All this was in theory, of course.
Appointed officials did most of the work,
in his name.
http://www.angelfire.com/wi/egypt/phar.html
First impressions
 Read the poem.
 What are your first impressions of the tone and meaning?
 Make a note of your ideas.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
3
Let’s take a closer look
 Answer the following questions by providing quotes and analysis. Think
PEA - point, example, analysis.

What does the adjective, ‘antique’, suggest? Is it a positive or
negative description, or is it both?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

What is the effect of creating a ‘traveller’ to narrate the story?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Why does Shelley use ‘vast’ to describe the remains of the statue,
rather than ‘big’?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

What does the noun, ‘frown’ and the noun phrase ‘wrinkled lip’ suggest
about the nature of the Pharaoh?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
 Up until line five, Shelley’s focus is on, primarily, the image of the statue in
the desert.
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
4
 Underline each NOUN and highlight each adjective up until line five.
Then, using this to aid you, in the space below, draw an image of Shelley’s
creation of Egypt. Make sure you draw every object the way they are
described by the poet.

At line 6, the poem subject shifts to the sculptor, Ozymandias’s
servant: ‘its sculptor well those passions read…’ How does this extract
support your previous answers?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
a. What do you think these lines meant in the context of the time?
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
5
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
b. What do you think these lines mean in today’s context? What does
the verb, ‘despair’, suggest?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
c. How many references are there to Ozymandias himself in these lines?
What does this suggest?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
d. ‘Mighty’ is a noun in line 11. Who does it refer to?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
e. Using punctuation, how has Shelley created the superior status of
Ozymandias? Note and explain two examples.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE

6
Describe the grammar of this sentence: ‘Nothing beside remains.’ What
is its effect? Think about the contrast with the previous lines.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Whose work has lasted - Ozymandias’ or the sculptor’s? What do you
think Shelley is suggesting?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
7
Rhythm and Rhyme
 Label the rhyme scheme.

Does the rhyme scheme follow the conventions of a Petrarchan
sonnet?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

What is the symbolism of replacing old rhymes with new ones?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

What is the effect of the rhythm in the poem’s last line?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
8
My Itchy Toes Smell Loads
 Complete the table below with what you consider to
be the most important quotes and poetic devices within
each category.
meaning
imagery
tone
Structure and
Form
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
language
Comparing poems
-
AO3: Make comparisons and explain links between texts, evaluating
writers’ different ways of expressing meaning and achieving effects
 Use the Venn diagram to find the differences and similarities between the
two poems.
‘Ozymandias’
‘my last duchess’
Sample exam question
 Compare the characters in ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘My Last Duchess’.
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
9
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
10
 Compare the ways that voice is created in ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘My Last
Duchess’.
Comparing poems
-
AO3: Make comparisons and explain links between texts, evaluating
writers’ different ways of expressing meaning and achieving effects
 Use the Venn diagram to find the differences and similarities between the
two poems.
‘Ozymandias’
Sample exam questions
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
‘Medusa’
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
11
 Compare the ways that character and voice is created in ‘Ozymandias’
and ‘Medusa’.
 Compare the presentation of power in ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘Medusa’.
Planning an essay
 Using MITSL as a guide, create an essay plan or spider diagram for your
essay question. You must include 3 - 5 points of comparison. Number each
point in the order you would write about them in your exam. When you write
your essay, remember to analyse structural and poetic devices for their effect
and meaning. Don’t just list.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
12
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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 shatter’d visage lies, whose frown
5
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
10
‘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 Shelley
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE
Acknowledgments and thanks
Written by Chantel Mathias and Amanda Fiegel
Introduction and copy by Karen Bishop
Audio file scripts and recordings written by Barrie McDermid - www.podcastrevision.co.uk
Interactive resources and design by David Riley - www.triptico.co.uk
Images:

http://www.angelfire.com/wi/egypt/phar.html

web.ukonline.co.uk
Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders of material reproduced in this
collection. If notified, we will be pleased to rectify any errors / omissions.
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
13