Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 10 English Guides

Year 10 - English

Understanding the poem 'No Problem' by Benjamin Zephaniah

'Conflict'

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupis explore 12 of the 15 poems from the 'Conflict' anthology. Pupils complete two lessons on each poem: one on understanding and one on analysis. Pupils study the poems in a thematically linked order so they can complete comparative and thematic lessons at key points in the unit.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain how Zephaniah presents racial conflict in Britain.

Key Notes

  • Zephaniah was born in Birmingham, and grew up during the 1960s and 1970s.
  • Growing up, Zephaniah suffered racial abuse.
  • 'No Problem' is based on Zephaniah's own experiences; he is the speaker in the poem.
  • The poem is about Zephaniah's self worth, growing up in a society which did not value him.
  • Zephaniah was a dub poet who mostly performed his poetry with reggae music.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • prejudice: preconceived opinion or judgement, often negative, towards a group
  • racism: discrimination or prejudice based on race or ethnicity
  • patois: regional or non-standard language, often characterised by slang or dialectical variations
  • dub poet: a poet who performs their work to reggae music

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Benjamin Zephaniah wrote in an exaggerated phonetic way to represent the accent of the speaker.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

Zephaniah was born in Birmingham, and grew up during the 1960s and 1970s. Growing up, Zephaniah suffered racial abuse.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'prejudice'

preconceived opinion or judgement, often negative, towards a group.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Benjamin Zephaniah wrote in an exaggerated phonetic way to represent the accent of the speaker. Correction: Zephaniah was a dub poet which meant that he performed his work aloud. This phonetic spelling should be viewed more as a transcription of Zephaniah's own cultural patois.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 10 English guide library.