Years 9 and 10 English: Ozymandias and the Passage-Based Essay

Both Year 9 and 10 students have continued with poetry in preparation for an assessment in week 2 (Year 10s) and week 3 (Year 9s).

From the four poems that they have studied (the year levels have year-level specific poetry), they will complete a passage-based essay on one of these poems, analysing it in terms of poetic devices, structural elements and thematic concepts. The students will prove how a poet effectively crafts a poem and then explain their own personal response to it.

The students worked hard to not only learn about poetry, but have been learning how to write an analytical essay. For some students, this is the first time that they have covered both of these aspects in such depth, or it is completely new to them. We have definitely worked on the concept of perseverance!

Below are excerpts from some of the draft Year 10 passage-based essays that we have been working on in class. Kudos needs to be given to these students, who have been working tirelessly to improve their standard. These responses are related to the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley and show the sophistication of what is needed to pass Cambridge. Although they are not completed, you can see that a solid foundation has been achieved.

Student 1

King Ozymandias can also be illustrated as narcissistic, when he proclaims, “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings.” He doesn’t see himself as just a ruler, but as someone who is even more incomparable than God. Hence, the “shattered visage” serves as a symbolic manifestation of the King’s megalomania.

Student 2

Shelley portrays Ozymandias as tyrannical through his arbitrary rule. The personification, “the hand that mocks them” intensifies his domineering control over the people he ruled over with an egotistical idealism for higher status or value than anyone else. I feel that the king’s self importance and arrogance for power encapsulates his stone cold heart showing his desperation for eternal control that gratifies him.

Student 3

The poet exhibits an ironic contrast between how Ozymandias thought he was going to be remembered and the “decay” of his legacy. The word “decay” illustrates the passage of time and deterioration, indicating that despite his belief in his own greatness, his power was only provisional.