CHAPTER 10 - OZYMANDIAS

CHAPTER 10 - OZYMANDIAS
UNIT 10
PAGE 106
Question 1 :
Look at the picture given below.
  While on a sight-seeing tour to an old and mysterious
country far away from home, you saw this statue.
Discuss with your partner what this picture tells you
about the people, the place and the ruler.
Note down your ideas in the web-chart.
  Answer :
Note: This question is to be answered on the basis of
your own understanding, experience and thoughts. It is
strongly recommended that you prepare the solution
on your own. However, sample solutions have been
provided for your reference.
The place: sand, desert,
Deserted, dry, barren, sandy, state of decay
The ruler must have been
Powerful, arrogant, snob, hypocrite, beheaded
The statue: broken, face is
Beheaded, on the ground, horrifying, stony
The people:
Suppressed, sad, under the tyrannical rule, terrified
PAGE 107
Question 2:
Write a letter to your friend about the sight you saw
and your impression of it.
Answer :
Note: This question is to be answered on the basis of
your own understanding, experience and thoughts. It is
strongly recommended that you prepare the solution
on your own. However, the beginning of one sample
solution has been provided for your reference.
Hey S,
Hey, I am writing to you to describe something very
interesting. The other day I was going through
‘Literature Reader’ where I saw a picture of a sculpture
of two legs and a beheaded face lying on the floor in
the desert. The impression of the same, on me, was very
horrifying because it seemed to talk of a very powerful
ruler who was no longer alive. Who might have guessed
that years after his death…
Question 4-(a):
The poem is set in ____________________________________
________
i. the wilderness
ii. an ancient land
iii. a palace
iv. a desert
Answer :
iv. a desert
Question 4-(b):
The expression on the face of the statue is one of _____
_______________
i. admiration
ii. anger
iii. despair
iv. contempt
Answer :
iv. contempt
Question 4-(c):
This poem throws light on the _________________ nature
of Ozymandias.
i. cruel
ii. arrogant
iii. boastful
iv. aggressive
Answer :
iii. boastful
Question 4-(d):
The sculptor was able to understand Ozymandias' _____
______________
i. words
ii. expression
iii. feelings
iv. ambition
Answer :
ii. expression
Question 4-(e):
The tone of the poem is ______________________________
__________
i. mocking
ii. nostalgic
iii. gloomy
iv. gloating
Answer :
iv. gloating
PAGE 108
Question 5-(a):
"The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed."
Whose hand and heart has the poet referred to in this
line?
Answer :
The hand and heart referred to, here, is that of the
sculptor.
Question 5-(b):
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:" Why does
Ozymandias refer to himself as King of Kings? What
quality of the king is revealed through this statement.
Answer :
In order to emphasise on him to be the most powerful
of all kings, King Ozymandias calls himself ‘King of Kings’.
The king supposedly was very powerful, aggressive,
arrogant and boastful.
Question 5-(c):
"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Who is
Ozymandias referring to when he speaks of ye Mighty?
Why should they despair?
Answer :
Ozymandias refers to all the other rulers to come after
his reign. They should despair, because according to
him, they can’t surpass his glory and power.
Question 5-(d):
Bring out the irony in the poem.
Answer :
The irony of “Ozymandias” cuts much deeper as the
reader realises that the forces of mortality and
flexibility, described brilliantly in the concluding lines,
will wear down and destroy all our lives. There is a
special justice in the way tyrants are subject to time, but
all humans face death and decay. The poem primarily
depicts an ironic picture of Ozymandias and other
rulers like him, but it is also a prominent thought on
time-bound humanity: the traveler in the ancient land,
the sculptor-artist who fashioned the tomb, and the
reader of the poem, no less than Ozymandias, inhabit a
world that is “boundless and bare.”
Question 5-(e):
'Nothing beside remains.' What does the narrator mean
when he says these words?
Answer :
When the narrator says these words, he emphasises on
the fact that human life is time bound. The power and
popularity of the ruler descended with the descent of
the ruler. Nothing is immortal and immutable in this
world.
Question 5-(f):
What is your impression of Ozymandias as a king?
Answer :
To me, Ozymandias seems to be a very powerful
tyrannical ruler, who was extremely boastful of himself
and his kingdom.
Question 5-(g):
What message is conveyed through this poem?
Answer :
Through this poem a very important message is
conveyed which explains the ultimate truth of human
lives that nothing is important. Everything in this world
is time-bound and not immortal. The immutability of
time has been explained through this poem.
PAGE 109
Question 6:
Identify and rewrite the lines from the poem spoken by
the narrator, the traveler and Ozymandias:
The Narrator: ________________________________________
________________
______________________________________________________
__
______________________________________________________
__
The Traveller: ________________________________________
________________
______________________________________________________
__
______________________________________________________
__
Ozymandias: _________________________________________
_______________
_______________________________________________________
_
_________________________________________________ ______
_
Answer :
The Narrator: The narrator starts the poem with the
introduction as to how the traveller had narrated his
trip to the ancient land.
The Traveler: Two huge yet without the upper part of
the body sculptures stood in the desert. Near them lay
a shattered face, which had a frown and a wrinkled
expression on his face. The face also held a hostile
expression of cold command. The expression could be
read very well on these lifeless things because of the
sculptor’s artistry. On the pedestal appeared the words
of the king himself. It read that his name was
Ozymandias, king of kings, who commanded the
forthcoming rulers to look up to him, and be saddened
by the fact that they can never beat the glory he had
achieved.
Ozymandias: I am Ozymandias, king of all kings: look
upon my work and be despaired by my might, which
you can never surpass.
Question 7:
Shelley's sonnet follows the traditional structure of the
fourteen-line Italian sonnet, featuring an opening
octave, or set of eight lines, that presents a conflict or
dilemma, followed by a sestet, or set of six lines, that
offers some resolution or commentary upon the
proposition introduced in the octave. Read the poem
carefully and complete the following table on the
structure of the poem.
Rhyme Scheme
Theme
Octave
Sestet
Answer :
Rhyme Scheme
Theme
Octave
ABAB-ACDC
Major theme discussed here is that everything in this
world is bound by time. Dynamism is the truth of the
world.
Sestet
EDEFEF
Major theme here is that we are only human, and
though we may consider ourselves to be the earth
ruler's, we wither and die like everything else
PAGE 110
Question 8:
Complete the table listing the poetic devices used by
Shelley in Ozymandias.
Poetic Device
Lines from the poem
Alliteration
...and sneer of cold command
Synecdoche (substitution of a part to stand for the
whole, or the whole to
stand for a part)
the hand that mock'd them
Answer :
Poetic Device
Lines from the poem
Alliteration
...and sneer of cold command
Synecdoche (substitution of a part to stand for the
whole, or the whole to
stand for a part)
the hand that mock'd them
Repitition
King of Kings
Personification
the hand that mocked them
Question 9:
Imagine that Ozymandias comes back to life and as he
sees the condition of his statue,realisation dawns on
him and he pens his thoughts in a diary. As
Ozymandias, make this diary entry in about 150 words.
You could begin like this: I thought I was the mightiest
of all but...
Answer :
Note: This question is to be answered on the basis of
your own understanding, experience and thoughts. It is
strongly recommended that you prepare the solution
on your own. However, the following lines would give
you a brief idea on how to begin your diary entry.
I thought I was the mightiest of all but I was so
mistaken. Now I realize how my power and strength are
in vain, and are of no importance in the face of time. I
am grief-stricken by the fact that my command is of no
good. The power of nature and reality is far stronger
than what I thought. It has finally dawned on me that
everything on this earth is bound to change,
irrespective of any personal traits or choices. I have
finally come to terms with the fact that I might have
been a great ruler, but it was wrong to have been
boastful about it. So, I think, one should be modest and
sober about one’s own self…(to be continued)
Question 10:
'Ozymandias' and 'Not Marble, nor the Gilded
Monuments' are on Time. Compare the two sonnets in
terms of the way in which Time is treated by the poets.
Write your answer in about 150 words.
Answer :
Note: This question is to be answered on the basis of
your own understanding, experience and thoughts. It is
strongly recommended that you prepare the solution
on your own. However, the following lines would give
you a brief idea on how to begin your diary entry.
All of these poets talk about the destructive power of
time. There are two completely different ways that you
can look at the cruel power of time. One is where time
can mature and enrich people or wine, generally a good
view of time. The other is where time destroys
everything in its path, like the fall of an empire. Poems
under consideration focus on the destructive power of
time. It is believed that the passage of time is a
destructive force and that the poems using that view
are better as they are more powerful and display strong
images about time…(to be continued)