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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 does Ozymandias's quote imply should be standing around the statue?

2. In line 1, what word does the speaker use to describe the land where the traveler has been?

3. What part of the statue is still standing when the traveler sees it?

4. Whose "passions" are referred to in line 6, "Tell that its sculptor well those passions read"?

5. Which technique is evident in line 6, "Tell that its sculptor well those passions read"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. Briefly summarize the action of the poem.

6. Describe the poem's form.

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The passage from Ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus that both Shelley and Smith used as the basis for their poems is this:

One of these, made in a sitting posture, is the greatest in all Egypt, the measure of his foot exceeding seven cubitts. This piece is not only commendable for its greatness, but admirable for its cut and workmanship, and the excellency of the stone. In so great a work there is not to be discerned the least flaw, or any other blemish.

Upon it there is this inscription: – 'I am Osymandyas, king of kings; if any would know how great I am, and where I lie, let him excel me in any of my works.’ (The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian, translated by George Booth, page 53).

Write an essay that considers how Shelley transformed this source material into the action of "Ozymandias." What did he keep? What did he cut? What did he add or reshape? How do these choices reveal Shelley's thematic intentions? Support your claims with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from both "Ozymandias" and the passage by Diodorus Siculus.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you explicate the imagery of "Ozymandias." Describe the poems images and then show how they function to support the poem's overall meaning. Use both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem to support your claims.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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