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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 8 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the meter of the poem's first two lines?

2. What is the form of "Ozymandias"?

3. What does Ozymandias hope to inspire in his audience?

4. Who is the author of "Ozymandias"?

5. What kind of landscape has the traveler been traveling through?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the poem's setting support its main point?

2. Briefly summarize the action of the poem.

3. Explain the irony of the poem's ending.

4. Describe the poem's form.

5. What poetic techniques create impact in the line, "Half sunk a shattered visage lies" (line 4)?

6. Identify the three voices heard in "Ozymandias."

7. How does the epithet that Ozymandias gives himself help the reader understand the intentions behind his quote?

8. What claims does the poem make about the statue's sculptor?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you explicate the poem's rhyme scheme and discuss the effects created by this rhyme scheme. How does rhyme link or emphasize ideas and affect the poem's flow, pace, and tone? Use both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem to support your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that analyzes "Ozymandias" as an artifact of English Romanticism. Explain the key characteristics of the style and subject matter of Romanticism, place Shelley within this tradition, and then show how "Ozymandias" reflects this tradition. Use both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem to support your claims, and cite all sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you consider the three voices in "Ozymandias" as "stand-ins." Who might the speaker stand in for? Who might the traveler represent? What about Ozymandias himself? As you consider your answers to these questions, think about why each voice is necessary to the poem's overall meaning. Support your ideas with evidence from the poem; if you use outside sources, be sure to cite these in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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