Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on by Benjamin Zephaniah is the Edexcel IGCSE persuasive memoir in which a famous British poet argues that the dyslexia his teachers used to humiliate him became the source of his creativity and career. This guide gives you the paragraph-by-paragraph breakdown, 10 fully analysed quotes and a Grade 9 answer plan, complete and ready to reproduce in the exam.
Contents
- What is Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on about?
- What is the purpose of Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- What is the message of Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- What are the supporting issues and themes of Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- What happens in Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on? Paragraph-by-paragraph breakdown
- What are the 10 best quotes from Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- What is the conclusion on Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- Frequently asked questions
What is Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on about?
- Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on is a Guardian article by Benjamin Zephaniah.
- He looks back on his school years as a dyslexic Black boy in Birmingham.
- Teachers called him stupid and steered him towards sport, not study.
- He shows how he turned that pain into poems, books and a career.
- His message is simple: dyslexia did not stop him; it shaped him.
- This post breaks down each paragraph and shows how the writing works.
What is the purpose of Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- Show that dyslexia can be a strength, not a weakness
- Persuade readers to question how schools label children
- Challenge the idea that intelligence means reading and writing
- Inspire young people to find creative ways round their own problems
- Push back against teachers who shut down brave thinking
What is the message of Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- Any obstacle a person faces, including dyslexia, can be turned into the very source of their creativity and success.
What are the supporting issues and themes of Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- Not fitting in and being different
- A society that should accept people as they are
- The problem lies with society, not the child
- A strong sense of self that refuses to be a victim
- Pushing back against mainstream thinking and easy authority
- Creative thinking as the engine of real success
- Intelligence that schools and teachers fail to see
- Rejecting the labels other people try to stick on you
What happens in Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on? Paragraph-by-paragraph breakdown
Paragraph 1
- Zephaniah opens the article with his central claim: his dyslexia made him more creative and successful.
- He says he suffered as a child but used the experience to his advantage.
- He calls himself and other dyslexics architects and designers of the future.
- He uses the pronoun ‘we’ to include all dyslexic readers from the very start.
- He sets up the circular structure that the whole article will return to at the end.
Paragraph 2
- He describes the education system of his childhood as cold, ignorant, and completely without compassion.
- Teachers did not know what dyslexia was in those days.
- There was no kindness, understanding, or flexibility in schools at the time.
- He does not feel angry at the teachers because they were products of their era.
- He compares the past to a foreign country to make it feel distant and separate from who he is today.
Paragraph 3
- He recalls a classroom moment when his creative thinking was dismissed and he was called stupid.
- He questioned whether sleep might be a design flaw in God’s plan.
- His teacher called him stupid rather than engaging with his idea.
- The anecdote shows his mind was creative and logical, not unintelligent.
- Schools punished original thinking instead of encouraging it.
Paragraph 4
- He describes challenging a teacher who called African people savages in front of the class.
- His teacher used a racist word to describe people in Africa.
- He turned the insult back on the teacher with a direct question.
- He got into trouble for standing up to prejudice.
- Asking the right question can expose someone’s hidden bias.
Paragraph 5
- A teacher told him he could not be intelligent and steered him towards sport because of his race.
- The teacher implied that not all children, especially Black ones, could be intelligent.
- He was pushed towards sport without any evidence that it was his strength.
- He did not realise at the time that this was a racial stereotype.
- Looking back, he sees how damaging these low expectations were.
Paragraph 6
- He explains how he found creative ways to share his poetry despite not being able to write.
- He had poems forming in his mind even as a young boy.
- His sister helped by writing his poems down for him.
- By age 13 he could only read very basically and often gave up.
- He found practical solutions rather than letting his difficulties silence him.
Paragraph 7
- He describes being expelled from his last school and taking dramatic revenge on a teacher who praised the Nazis.
- He was thrown out of several schools by the age of 13.
- He was expelled partly for arguing with teachers and partly for fighting.
- He stole a teacher’s car and drove it into the teacher’s garden.
- He did this after the teacher told the class that the Nazis were not particularly bad.
Paragraph 8
- He explains how even in a youth prison he found inspiration to improve himself by observing others.
- He was sent to a borstal, which is a prison for young offenders.
- He noticed a man who sat slumped over with defeat and decided not to be like him.
- He chose to sit with a straight back and good posture instead.
- Even in the worst places, careful observation can teach you something valuable.
Paragraph 9
- He uses statistics to prove that background and disadvantage do not have to determine where you end up in life.
- Dyslexic people fill both prisons and architecture firms in high numbers.
- Based on his upbringing, he should have ended up in prison.
- He had no qualifications and faced multiple serious disadvantages from childhood.
- He argues that facing your fears is what keeps people out of prison and on a better path.
Paragraph 10
- He argues that the main difference between success and failure is noticing and taking opportunities when they appear.
- He visits prisons and meets people who are just as intelligent as he is.
- The only real difference is that he spotted his opportunities and took them.
- Some people missed their chances without even realising they were there.
- Opportunities are time-sensitive; you must stay alert and ready to act.
Paragraph 11
- He explains how his strong self-belief protected him completely from the damaging views of others.
- He never accepted other people’s low opinion of his intelligence.
- When told Black people were savages, he simply thought the opposite was true.
- His self-belief was the foundation of every creative achievement he describes.
- His girlfriend wrote down his poems so he could publish his very first book.
Paragraph 12
- He describes the moment he was officially diagnosed with dyslexia for the first time, at the age of 21.
- People thought he just wrote in a phonetic style, not that he was dyslexic.
- At 21 he attended an adult literacy class in London.
- A teacher told him he was dyslexic, and he had no idea what the word meant.
- Once he understood, everything about his life suddenly made sense.
Paragraph 13
- He describes the creative strategies he still uses today to work around his dyslexia.
- He continued to write poetry, novels, plays, and music throughout his life.
- When he forgets how to spell a word, he draws a symbol as a reminder.
- He writes a question mark when he cannot spell ‘question.’
- He always comes back to fill in the gaps, showing patience and long-term commitment.
Paragraph 14
- He describes how he manages his dyslexia as a university professor and as a public figure.
- He still feels intimidated by the physical size of a book.
- Brunel University offered him a professorship despite his complete lack of formal qualifications.
- He tells his students that passion and creativity matter far more than a good memory.
- He uses professional actors to read his novels aloud at literary festivals.
Paragraph 15
- He argues firmly that the problem of dyslexia belongs to society and its narrow systems, not to the individual.
- If someone cannot understand dyslexia, that is their problem, not his.
- He compares it to racial oppression: he has never tried to become white in order to fit in.
- He tells dyslexic readers directly: it is not you who is the problem.
- He says that being dyslexic is, in many ways, a completely natural way to be.
Paragraph 16
- He uses the Chinese writing system as evidence that English is not the only or most logical way to record language.
- He argues that reading and writing in English is, in fact, unnatural.
- Chinese characters look like the things they represent.
- English letters are just random shapes that stand for sounds.
- The writing system should be questioned, not the person who finds it difficult.
Paragraph 17
- He closes with direct advice: stop blaming yourself, and understand that dyslexia is a creative strength.
- He tells readers not to be hard on themselves.
- He tells parents not to think of their child’s dyslexia as a defect.
- He says dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence.
- Dyslexia forces people to be creative, and creativity is a lasting and powerful strength.
Paragraph 18
- He ends the article by returning to his very first words, now with the full weight of his evidence behind them.
- Children now approach him feeling proud to share his condition.
- He repeats ‘we are the architects, we are the designers’ from the opening of the article.
- He closes with a warm joke about non-dyslexics.
- The circular structure proves his central message was true from the very beginning.
What are the 10 best quotes from Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
| Moment, Point and Quote | Analysis |
|---|---|
| What’s happening: Zephaniah opens by looking back on his childhood from the viewpoint of a successful adult. He claims the pain of his dyslexia became the source of his creativity and success. Point: Zephaniah opens his article with a strong sense of determination and pride. “turn dyslexia to my advantage” | Symbolism “dyslexia”
|
| What’s happening: Zephaniah remembers a class discussion about how humans sleep for one third of their lives. He suggested this might be a design flaw even in God’s creation. His teacher called him stupid for thinking creatively. Point: Never be afraid to challenge powerful ideas, however important they seem. “If there’s a God isn’t that a design fault?” | Rhetorical Question “If there’s a God isn’t that a design fault”
|
| What’s happening: A teacher described people in Africa as ‘local savages’ in front of the whole class. Rather than stay silent, Zephaniah turned the label back on her with a direct question and was punished for it. Point: Always question those who judge others without looking at themselves first. “Who are you to talk about savages?” | Rhetorical Question “Who are you”
|
| What’s happening: A teacher told him it was fine that he could not read or write, because not everyone could be intelligent. The teacher assumed his future lay in sport based purely on his race. Zephaniah later recognised this as a damaging racial stereotype. Point: Do not let others decide who you are or what you are worth. “We can’t all be intelligent, but you’ll end up being a good sportsperson” | Stereotype “intelligent”
|
| What’s happening: Even as a young boy, Zephaniah had poems forming in his mind. Although he could not write them down, his sister helped by recording them for him. He had found a creative solution to a problem that could have silenced him completely. Point: There is always a creative way around a problem if you are willing to look for one. “I had poems in my head… my sister wrote some of them down” | Metaphor “poems in my head”
|
| What’s happening: Zephaniah was sent to a borstal, a prison for young offenders. Rather than giving up, he carefully observed the behaviour of those around him and used what he saw to make better choices for himself. Point: Inspiration and learning can be found anywhere, even in the very darkest places. “in borstal… I saw a guy who… stooped… so I learned to sit” | Emotive Noun “borstal”
|
| What’s happening: Zephaniah explains that he never accepted other people’s low opinion of his intelligence. When someone with perfect literacy tried to tell him Black people were savages, he simply thought the reverse. His self-belief protected him completely. Point: Self-belief is your best protection against people who try to define and limit you. “I’m not stupid – you’re the one who’s stupid. I just had self-belief.” | Mirrored Structure “stupid”
|
| What’s happening: Zephaniah admits that even now, when he looks at a book, the first thing he sees is its size. Despite this, he became a professor of poetry at Brunel University, teaching students more formally qualified than himself. He tells them that passion and creativity matter more than any qualification. Point: Big challenges are rarely as impossible as they look from the outside. “the first thing I see is the size of it” | Symbolism “book”
|
| What’s happening: Zephaniah gives direct advice to dyslexic readers and to parents of dyslexic children. He tells them dyslexia is not a defect and has nothing to do with intelligence; in fact, it forces people to develop a stronger creativity muscle. Point: Being kind to yourself gives you the mental strength to keep going and keep creating. “So don’t be heavy on yourself” | Metaphor “heavy on yourself”
|
| What’s happening: Zephaniah ends the article by returning to the exact words he used in his very first paragraph. Children now approach him proudly sharing that they too are dyslexic. He closes with a warm joke about non-dyslexics, full of confidence. Point: Zephaniah ends his argument with a powerful sense of shared pride and collective strength. “We are the architects. We are the designers.” | Circular Structure “We are the architects. We are the designers.”
|
What is the conclusion on Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
Zephaniah turns his own school pain into a guide for any reader who has felt small.
He uses humour, anecdote and direct address to flip the labels people put on him.
What looked like a wall of stories is now a clear map for the exam.
If you want more guides like this, the rest of the Edexcel iGCSE study guides are waiting.
Frequently asked questions
What is the focus of Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on
- Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on is a Guardian article by Benjamin Zephaniah.
- He looks back on his school years as a dyslexic Black boy in Birmingham.
- Teachers called him stupid and steered him towards sport, not study.
- He shows how he turned that pain into poems, books and a career.
- His message is simple: dyslexia did not stop him; it shaped him.
What is the purpose of Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- Show that dyslexia can be a strength, not a weakness
- Persuade readers to question how schools label children
- Challenge the idea that intelligence means reading and writing
- Inspire young people to find creative ways round their own problems
- Push back against teachers who shut down brave thinking
What is the message of Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- Any obstacle a person faces, including dyslexia, can be turned into the very source of their creativity and success.
What are the supporting issues and themes of Young and dyslexic? You’ve got it going on?
- Not fitting in and being different
- A society that should accept people as they are
- The problem lies with society, not the child
- A strong sense of self that refuses to be a victim
- Pushing back against mainstream thinking and easy authority
