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English Literature: Poetry. Ozymandius and My Last Duchess

Hiii.
What mark would you give this out of 30? And a grade? Also could you tell me which I need to add out of AO1, AO2 and AO3?

Q: Compare the ways poets present the ideas about power in Ozymandius and one other poem from the Power and conflict cluster.

A: Both Ozymandius and My Last Duchess shows how power has the ability to corrupt people and people can go to many lengths to gain it. The difference is that Ozymandius talks about power in comparison to nature and time whereas My Last Duchess demonstrates power through the duke, and his desire to control those around him.
Both poems use an artistic presentation to convey the effects of power. In My Last Duchess, the Duke quotes 'That's my last duchess painted on the wall... I call that piece a wonder now' implying that the painting is a picture of his Duchess- a form of artwork. The word 'wonder' suggests that he's very proud of it, underlying his arrogance. Later on, he goes on to say 'since none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you but I' which highlights his need for control. he makes it clear to the count representative- who he's talking to that only he, has the authority to open or close the curtain revealing his wife, bringing out his dominant side to the reader., as shown from the words 'none' and 'I'. Although Ozymandius uses artwork to present the effects of power, this is done in a different manner. From the vivid description of 'two vast and trunk-less legs of stone' and 'a shattered visage' the reader can distinctively assume the poem relates to a statue or a sculptor. In the poem the sculptor is supposed to represent Ozymandius, a powerful king. From the words on the pedestal of the statue 'My name is Ozymandius, king of kings. Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' , we can easily get a sense of his arrogant personality. He refers himself - or the statue representing him- to the 'king of kings' which suggests that he perceives himself as the highest person on Earth, nobody can be above him. Using the statue makes the statement seem more visual and prominent.

Both poems use structure in order to get their ideas on power. Ozymandius is written in a sonnet form- with the first stanza being an octave and the second being a sestet. This could be implying Ozymandius at his highest point,ruler over all, and then at his ruin where he is nothing but 'a colossal wreck..boundless and bare'. This emphasises the fact that power isn't everlasting, he can't have power forever because he'll eventually die, as implied by his ruin in the final lines. The structure of My Last Duchess, however, is more formal. Robert Browning uses couplets in order to tell the Duke's monologue with an AA, BB, CC, DD rhyme scheme. The formality of this poem could underly control and portray the message that the Duke feels like he has to control everything; including little things like the way he thinks, writes, and talks, to the reader. This again reflects my point that power has the ability to consume everyone and everything- including their mindsets.

In My Last Duchess, language plays a huge part in displaying the effects of power to the reader. From the title My Last Duchess,'My' is a personal pronoun , and this indicates how the Duke makes everything about him. to add to this, the constant use of 'I's and 'My's and 'Myself's creates this idea that everything revolves around him, making him sound pompous to readers. * Also the reader can start to question the Dukes morality from the use of 'Last' in the title. This suggests that the duchess is no longer with him or maybe died. then in the 2nd line of the poem, he says 'Looking as if she were alive', which implies that that she's no longer living and that starts to bring up questions in the reader's mind and accusations of the duke may be brought up. Later on in the poem he says 'this grew, I gave commands and then all smiles stopped together'. From this quote, we can assume that the Duke ordered the Duchess to be killed. This emphasises the Duke's need to control everything, because he wasn't able to control his wife's flirtatious actions, he felt the need to put her in her place- by killing her. This links back to the time Browning was writing this in, when women were seen as their husbands prized possessions, and if they caught flirting with other men, their husbands would be seen in a different/horrible light, and their husbands tried to punish them.

So although power is presented in a different way in My Last Duchess and Ozymandius, both poems get across the message of power being an all consuming desire to readers. Both poems also drastically highlight the fact that power isn't forever. In Ozymandius, Ozymandius' power comes to an end when he dies and the statue commemorating him is destroyed. In My Last Duchess, the Duke wasn't able to control his wife in the way he wanted to, proving the point of time being stronger than power.

* the star is where i had gotten up to after 45 minutes.

Thank you for reading, and if you could improve it, that would be great.

Thnx
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by chxnaza
Hiii.
What mark would you give this out of 30? And a grade? Also could you tell me which I need to add out of AO1, AO2 and AO3?

Q: Compare the ways poets present the ideas about power in Ozymandius and one other poem from the Power and conflict cluster.

A: Both Ozymandius and My Last Duchess shows how power has the ability to corrupt people and people can go to many lengths to gain it. The difference is that Ozymandius talks about power in comparison to nature and time whereas My Last Duchess demonstrates power through the duke, and his desire to control those around him.
Both poems use an artistic presentation to convey the effects of power. In My Last Duchess, the Duke quotes 'That's my last duchess painted on the wall... I call that piece a wonder now' implying that the painting is a picture of his Duchess- a form of artwork. The word 'wonder' suggests that he's very proud of it, underlying his arrogance. Later on, he goes on to say 'since none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you but I' which highlights his need for control. he makes it clear to the count representative- who he's talking to that only he, has the authority to open or close the curtain revealing his wife, bringing out his dominant side to the reader., as shown from the words 'none' and 'I'. Although Ozymandius uses artwork to present the effects of power, this is done in a different manner. From the vivid description of 'two vast and trunk-less legs of stone' and 'a shattered visage' the reader can distinctively assume the poem relates to a statue or a sculptor. In the poem the sculptor is supposed to represent Ozymandius, a powerful king. From the words on the pedestal of the statue 'My name is Ozymandius, king of kings. Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' , we can easily get a sense of his arrogant personality. He refers himself - or the statue representing him- to the 'king of kings' which suggests that he perceives himself as the highest person on Earth, nobody can be above him. Using the statue makes the statement seem more visual and prominent.
Both poems use structure in order to get their ideas on power. Ozymandius is written in a sonnet form- with the first stanza being an octave and the second being a sestet. This could be implying Ozymandius at his highest point,ruler over all, and then at his ruin where he is nothing but 'a colossal wreck..boundless and bare'. This emphasises the fact that power isn't everlasting, he can't have power forever because he'll eventually die, as implied by his ruin in the final lines. The structure of My Last Duchess, however, is more formal. Robert Browning uses couplets in order to tell the Duke's monologue with an AA, BB, CC, DD rhyme scheme. The formality of this poem could underly control and portray the message that the Duke feels like he has to control everything; including little things like the way he thinks, writes, and talks, to the reader. This again reflects my point that power has the ability to consume everyone and everything- including their mindsets.

In My Last Duchess, language plays a huge part in displaying the effects of power to the reader. From the title My Last Duchess,'My' is a personal pronoun , and this indicates how the Duke makes everything about him. to add to this, the constant use of 'I's and 'My's and 'Myself's creates this idea that everything revolves around him, making him sound pompous to readers. * Also the reader can start to question the Dukes morality from the use of 'Last' in the title. This suggests that the duchess is no longer with him or maybe died. then in the 2nd line of the poem, he says 'Looking as if she were alive', which implies that that she's no longer living and that starts to bring up questions in the reader's mind and accusations of the duke may be brought up. Later on in the poem he says 'this grew, I gave commands and then all smiles stopped together'. From this quote, we can assume that the Duke ordered the Duchess to be killed. This emphasises the Duke's need to control everything, because he wasn't able to control his wife's flirtatious actions, he felt the need to put her in her place- by killing her. This links back to the time Browning was writing this in, when women were seen as their husbands prized possessions, and if they caught flirting with other men, their husbands would be seen in a different/horrible light, and their husbands tried to punish them.

So although power is presented in a different way in My Last Duchess and Ozymandius, both poems get across the message of power being an all consuming desire to readers. Both poems also drastically highlight the fact that power isn't forever. In Ozymandius, Ozymandius' power comes to an end when he dies and the statue commemorating him is destroyed. In My Last Duchess, the Duke wasn't able to control his wife in the way he wanted to, proving the point of time being stronger than power.


Thank you for reading, and if you could improve it, that would be great.

Thnx


I thought it was Ozymandias not Ozymandius?
Reply 2
Original post by wolfmoon88
I thought it was Ozymandias not Ozymandius?


oh yeah.... awks
Original post by chxnaza
oh yeah.... awks


minute change but important one nonetheless :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by wolfmoon88
minute change but important one nonetheless :smile:


okay thanks. But what about the actual essay?
You can definitely have more AO3. Rather than saying stuff like this links into Browning's time where..... You could say that this was very typical behaviour for a man during the time where Browning was writing and Browning, who was a poet who loved to analyse people's psychocologies, could be criticising this behaviour. If you want 5 or 6/6 for AO3, you need to make sure the context is actually something useful, something that adds to the point you are trying to get across, rather than simply describing the context. Also if you want top marks for AO2, you might want to pick up on some more perceptive points and perhaps alternative interpretations as your analysis currently is good (I would say around Band 5), but if you want to push into Band 6, you need to keep exploring around one small point quotation or phrase. The difference between Band 5 and Band 6 is that a Band 5 analyses lots of different techniques that the write uses, but just states the effect and that's it (width, but no depth), while a Band 6 analyses maybe just a couple techniques in each quotation, but analyses them deeply, with alternative interpretations etc.
Reply 6
Original post by BobBobson
You can definitely have more AO3. Rather than saying stuff like this links into Browning's time where..... You could say that this was very typical behaviour for a man during the time where Browning was writing and Browning, who was a poet who loved to analyse people's psychocologies, could be criticising this behaviour. If you want 5 or 6/6 for AO3, you need to make sure the context is actually something useful, something that adds to the point you are trying to get across, rather than simply describing the context. Also if you want top marks for AO2, you might want to pick up on some more perceptive points and perhaps alternative interpretations as your analysis currently is good (I would say around Band 5), but if you want to push into Band 6, you need to keep exploring around one small point quotation or phrase. The difference between Band 5 and Band 6 is that a Band 5 analyses lots of different techniques that the write uses, but just states the effect and that's it (width, but no depth), while a Band 6 analyses maybe just a couple techniques in each quotation, but analyses them deeply, with alternative interpretations etc.


Okay Thank You! what could you include for AO3? I'm a bit confused. where would you fit it into my essay?

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