- Oxford English Dictionary - the Oxford English dictionary could be a helpful resource for understand "Ozymandias." I got the idea for this research while simply Googling "Ozymandias" in order to get ideas for sources. I stumbled upon a Wikipedia article--yes, I know--that mentioned in passing that "Ozymandias" was written as a part of a friendly competition between Shelley and a fellow poet, Horace Smith. They both wrote similar poems, both of which explored the human flaw of hubris. One way the Oxford Dictionary could be used is to define hubris to understand the history and context of the concept and how the poem "Ozymandias" relates to other literary texts that have dealt with that trope in the past. The dictionary could also be useful for getting more precise definitions of the host of adjectives and images the poem evokes, as Shelley's diction is very important to the overall meaning of the piece.
- Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric - The Forest of Rhetoric could be a useful resource for getting a better understanding of the rhetorical techniques Shelley uses in the poem. This website allows you to simply look up a term--an example one could use from "Ozymandias" is "irony"--and get a comprehensive definition, as well as a host of other resources on the subject. This website could be very useful for laying groundwork in an analytical essay, particularly in an introduction.
Neither of the above resources give a great deal of information specifically relevant to Ozymandias. However, they would both be useful for giving authority to the groundwork you lay in an essay. Both of the above sources could be used to establish a greater understanding of broad, literary terms that could be used to analyze "Ozymandias."
I'm really interested in your second source. Although I often feel that I have somewhat of a definition in my head of literary terms, I am always surprised when I look them up to find out how much more depth and influence they have than I originally thought.
ReplyDeleteI also learned that "Ozymandias" was written as a competition with Horace Smith, and I think that it's such an interesting fact to know while reading the poem! I didn't know that they meant to write about hubris, so that's super revealing.
ReplyDeleteA few of our classmates also found that the poem was written in a competition, but I didn't see any other references to hubris! I think that is extremely interesting, and it makes sense when you look at what Magda brought up with the word sneer. I can see an overwhelming sense of pride within the poem that Shelley is exploiting!
ReplyDeleteI feel like it adds a whole new dimension to the historical context of the poem that Shelley wrote this as part of a competition. It makes me want to read the other Ozymandias poem, I think that would be a very interesting comparison looking at the two!
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