Young and Dyslexic - Difficulties faced

Question 1

Zephaniah was ignored and disregarded by his teachers.

Answer 1

Tripartite list ‘no compassion, no understanding and no humanity’ conveys the extent to which his staff had no empathy and care for Zepheniah.
Strong verb ‘suffered’ suggests the writer had a hard time and powerful language used such as ‘savages’.

Question 2

Zephaniah uses tenses to convey difficulties faced

Answer 2

Anecdotes on experiences in school and his perceptive interesting ideas, which the teachers ignorance meant no praise.
Contrasts the past with the present through metaphor ‘the past is a different type of country’ to show how the times have changed.

Question 3

Zephaniah links dyslexia with getting into trouble.

Answer 3

Statistics and parallel sentence structure ‘a high % of prison population are dyslexic and so are a high % of architect population’ shows the gains & losses of being dyslexic.
He contrasts his opportunities with prisoners who ‘missed theirs, didn’t notice them or didn’t take them’

Question 4

Zephaniah reassures those with dyslexia by creating personal connections

Answer 4

“How can I become white?” Rhetorical question conveys people don’t have the intelligence to understand dyslexia as an aspect of life.
He compares prejudice against dyslexics with racial prejudice when ‘its their problem’ - there’s no self pity.