Us – Zaffar Kunial (2018) Flashcards
Who was kunial?
Kunial was born in Birmingham. His mother is English, and his father is Pakistani. His poetry often refers to identity and cultural heritage. He also talks about the nature of language and how it can be used to convey a number of different meanings and nuances.
How does modern society affect the poem?
In this poem, Kunial stresses how we all need to work as a group to become more unified and become more tolerant of people from diverse backgrounds
The title of Kunial’s poem is simple but has many meanings. At one level, it is referring to a personal relationship but it also refers to all of us and how we can work together to bridge our differences.
What is the form and structure of the poem?
The poem is divided into 8 stanzas with no set rhyme scheme. This allows many of the stanzas to flow into one another mimicking the motion of the ocean and showing how we can come together or come apart.
What is the tone of the poem?
The tone is very personal and colloquial in places. The speaker directly addresses the reader to keep them involved and to follow his train of thought as well as his concerns about the future
What are some key quotes?
If you ask me, us takes in undulations
a shore-like state
stranded as if the universe is a matter of one stress.
What are some annotations of If you ask me, us takes in undulations ?
There is a lexical field of sea, coasts and islands running through the entire poem. The mention of ‘undulations’ in the first line sets up the strong image of waves and the overall structure of the poem supports this natural rhythm of the waves.
The first stanza starts with a colloquialism – ‘if you ask me’ and then begins imagery of oceans with ‘undulations’ and ‘waves’ and how the motion between all of the different coasts brings us together.
What are some annotations of a shore-like state
The speaker uses alliteration ‘shore-like state’ to extend the idea of being physically separated from someone.
The shore comes back into the text in the first line of the fourth stanza. Those who participate in this wave, and in equal measure, those who don’t are all part of both sides of a shoreline.
What are some annotations of stranded as if the universe is a matter of one stress?
The last two stanzas are broader in the use of the word ‘us’. Kunial is referring to all of us. By referring to the ‘universe’ and ‘Us’ – Kunial is extending his personal idea of us to all humankind and how we should all work to join together and that this isn’t a ‘fair-fetched’ idea
What are the key themes in the poem?
Relationships
Belonging
