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Year 10
Edexcel

Analysing ideas of conflict and acceptance in Antrobus' 'Jamaican British'

I can explain how Antrobus uses language, form and structure to present ideas of conflict and acceptance in ‘Jamaican British’.

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New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

Analysing ideas of conflict and acceptance in Antrobus' 'Jamaican British'

I can explain how Antrobus uses language, form and structure to present ideas of conflict and acceptance in ‘Jamaican British’.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The repetition of “Jamaican British” could suggest the speaker having to constantly define themselves.
  2. The use of “half”in the poem could mean that they don’t feel as if they fully belong somewhere.
  3. The use of shifting pronouns in the poem could reinforce the idea of feeling out of place.
  4. However, there are also moments of acceptance within the poem.
  5. The final phrase “Jamaican British” could signal that the speaker has accepted their dual heritage and identity.

Keywords

  • Identity - the set of qualities, beliefs, personality traits and appearance that characterise a person.

  • Ghazal - originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and romantic love consisting of rhymed couplets.

  • Blunt - saying what you think directly without trying to be polite.

  • Heritage - the history, traditions, practices, etc. of a particular country, society.

Common misconception

That there is one accepted interpretation of a poem.

People may interpret and respond to poetry differently because poetry is, at its core, about emotion and we all have different emotion responses to stimuli.

It would be useful to recap Antrobus' 'Jamaican British' before this lesson.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of the Edexcel Belonging anthology for this lesson.

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on

except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following is an accurate summary of Antrobus' 'Jamaican British'?
Correct answer: The speaker is experiencing internal and external conflict over their identity.
The speaker feels secure and comfortable in their identity.
The speaker is explaining how they are proud of their dual identity.
Q2.
'What word beginning with 'C' is a pair of successive rhyming lines, usually of the same length'?
Correct Answer: couplet, a couplet
Q3.
'The set of qualities, beliefs, personality traits and appearance that characterise a person' is the definition of your ...
intelligence.
Correct answer: identity.
ideas.
idleness.
Q4.
What word beginning with 'E' means the continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line, stanza or couplet?
Correct Answer: enjambment
Q5.
What might multiple caesuras suggest in a poem?
Correct answer: a sense of uncertainty
a sense of progression
a sense of freedom
Q6.
Which word beginning with 'H' means 'the history, traditions, practices etc. of a particular country, society'?
Correct Answer: heritage

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following words from Antrobus' 'Jamaican British' imply a sense of feeling incomplete?
Correct answer: "half"
Correct answer: "mule"
"privileged"
"passport"
Q2.
'Saying what you think directly without trying to be polite' is the definition of being ...
Correct Answer: blunt
Q3.
Originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and love consisting of rhymed couplets' is the definition of a ...
Correct Answer: ghazal
Q4.
In Antrobus' 'Jamaican British', the speaker's family in Jamaica say they are __________ to have someone British in their family.
Correct answer: "proud"
"upset"
"privileged"
Q5.
Antrobus' 'Jamaican British' is written in the form of ...
a sonnet.
a dramatic monologue.
Correct answer: couplets.
Q6.
The word "caste" from Antrobus' 'Jamaican British' comes from the Latin 'castus' which means ...
Correct answer: purity.
judgement.
hybrid.