Just because we are studying poetry, and the amount that we have to read is significantly less than when we have novels, that DOES NOT mean that you should be spending only 5-10 minutes on your English homework. Read the poems multiple times. Make sure you make a solid attempt to understand what they are doing.

Please note: Even if you do not understand what one of our poems means, you can still add plenty of thoughts on the technical elements of the poem, or you can give your best attempt to paraphrase the poem. The only wrong response is to say “I didn’t get it” and leave the poem mostly blank.

(QUICK SUMMARY OF OZYMANDIAS… This poem is about a speaker who hears a story about a man who encountered a shattered statue of Ozymandias, a former king of the region. The statue is impressive, but is utterly destroyed. On the statue is a quote from Ozymandias bragging about his power and the range of the lands under his control, but ironically, the statue is surrounded by a barren desert.)

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