Talking: Ways Of Talking
A. Ways of Talking
1. Briefly explain the speaker's attitude towards grief in stanza 1 and 2.
a. The speaker, and who ever else is included in the “we”, discusses how they also enjoyed talking about grief and actively grieving. Grief was a feeling that was often expressed by the speaker(s) or shown in the world around them. In the first and second stanza, the speaker(s) talked about grief and grieved whether or not there was actually something to be express grief on.
2. How does that change in stanza 3?
a. In stanza 3, the speaker(s) decided to stop talking about and expressing grief, not in a way that makes them suppress their feelings, but because there wasn’t anything to be sad about anymore. Grief became a fleeting feeling for the speaker(s)
after losing something so they started to be happy and focus on the happier and more positive aspects of life rather than focus on the negatives, since the worst had already happened to them.
3. Explain the metaphors in the line:
"After losing a land and then giving up a tongue"
a. I think this metaphor indicates that the speaker(s) experienced a major loss in their life, whether it be a person or object. Using “land” indicates that the loss of the speaker(s) was something large and giving up a “tongue” expresses how it was impossible for the speaker(s) to continue life normally after losing something so crucial to their life, like a person’s tongue.
B. Ozymandias
4. Briefly explain how the speaker develops irony in this poem.
a. By using the first two-thirds of the poem to set up a setting that indicates a ruined and forgotten area. By painting a picture of an ugly and old land and having his readers use that imagery, Shelley creates irony when he contrasts his imagery with Ozymandias; a king who claimed to never be forgotten or not praised.
5. How does this irony speak to the folly of humankind?
a. The irony of Ozymandias speakers to humankind by addressing the priding and arrogance that some beings possess. Through this poem, Shelley highlights how nothing and no one lasts forever; that means that even the worst of people, political leaders, or celebrities – no matter how much they think of themselves, will all die eventually.
1. Briefly explain the speaker's attitude towards grief in stanza 1 and 2.
a. The speaker, and who ever else is included in the “we”, discusses how they also enjoyed talking about grief and actively grieving. Grief was a feeling that was often expressed by the speaker(s) or shown in the world around them. In the first and second stanza, the speaker(s) talked about grief and grieved whether or not there was actually something to be express grief on.
2. How does that change in stanza 3?
a. In stanza 3, the speaker(s) decided to stop talking about and expressing grief, not in a way that makes them suppress their feelings, but because there wasn’t anything to be sad about anymore. Grief became a fleeting feeling for the speaker(s)
after losing something so they started to be happy and focus on the happier and more positive aspects of life rather than focus on the negatives, since the worst had already happened to them.
3. Explain the metaphors in the line:
"After losing a land and then giving up a tongue"
a. I think this metaphor indicates that the speaker(s) experienced a major loss in their life, whether it be a person or object. Using “land” indicates that the loss of the speaker(s) was something large and giving up a “tongue” expresses how it was impossible for the speaker(s) to continue life normally after losing something so crucial to their life, like a person’s tongue.
B. Ozymandias
4. Briefly explain how the speaker develops irony in this poem.
a. By using the first two-thirds of the poem to set up a setting that indicates a ruined and forgotten area. By painting a picture of an ugly and old land and having his readers use that imagery, Shelley creates irony when he contrasts his imagery with Ozymandias; a king who claimed to never be forgotten or not praised.
5. How does this irony speak to the folly of humankind?
a. The irony of Ozymandias speakers to humankind by addressing the priding and arrogance that some beings possess. Through this poem, Shelley highlights how nothing and no one lasts forever; that means that even the worst of people, political leaders, or celebrities – no matter how much they think of themselves, will all die eventually.