ENGLISH LANGUAGE

SCHOOL BASED ASSESSMENT

Name of Candidate:
Centre Name:
Centre #:
Teacher’s Name:
Territory: Jamaica

Theme: Crime
Topic: What is life like after being caught for a violent crime?
 Table of Contents
Plan of Investigation
Artefacts
Reflection 1
Reflection 2
Reflection 3
Written Report
Overview of Oral Presentation
 Plan of Investigation
My group decided to explore the theme ‘Crime’ with my topic being, ‘What is life like after
being caught for a violent crime?’ I chose this topic because I have had first-hand experience
when my father at one point had been jailed for a crime and was later exonerated but he faced
a really tough life afterwards with judgment from his community and to have a criminal
record which will later affect his employment status. I wanted to find out what life was like
for others; if it is similar to what my father faced or different and in what ways were they
similar or different.
While conducting this investigation, as a student of English, I hope to improve my analytical
and summarizing skills as well as build my vocabulary and improve my deductive reasoning
ability and increase my knowledge.
I will gather information for this research by using the internet to find informative articles or
songs that I can acquire which will also be referenced for my oral presentation.
 Source 1-Song
Back to Life by Vybz Kartel

Yo frata (back to life) me wa go (back to reality)

Me wa go (back to reality)

Listen, you can get pum pum a prison

A next man have you gal when you missing

Stay far from war that a coppa

And led you can't get head when you dead.

The food a shit, bed concrete, sunday gleaner ah me damn sheet

You can't sleep dere me a warn you

Bare roach and rat crawl pon you

When the cage lock you gave to thug it up

Inna them place yah dutty like rubbish truck

Me just a preeback (reminescence) happy day memories

Weh me kids, weh me wife, weh me benz is

Them place yah make you know who you friends is

Make you know the real gal them from

If you a punk if you nah nuh defen-is

Badman jailer beat out you senses the electric fances and the tall wall

Regular me see man siddung and staat bawl

Society deh suh near but you can't go

Everyday suh me just a pray suh me want guh

(Back to life) me wa go (back to reality)

Me wa go (back to life) me wa go (back to reality)

Listen, you can't get pum pum a prison

A next man have you gal when you missing

Stay far from war that a coppa and led

You can't get head when dead

Lock down fi 23 hour

1 hour split up inna 2 half hour

15 fi food and 15 fi showa

15 fi wash dutty clothes if you got none

15 fi look smoking fi guh lock down

Real thugz nuh backdown

Inna them pl; ace fi youh get a jamma stop

The medical a wait fi yuh

The victim surrenda

Waada fuck up the offenda

Su whi a the real winna?

Longtime me don't eat a real dinna

Meal inya fuck uo

Suh me smuggle some rum

Through the steel winda

Just fi get me appetite happy

Right you know prison gave a code

But zip not you code

Like mavado me want do road

Suh society let me out back pon yuh road

Me waa go (back to life)

Me waa go (back to reality, back to reality)

Source: LyricFind
 Source 2 - Article

Sources: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/after-committing-a-crime-guilt-and-
shame-predict-re-offense.html
 Source 3 – Article

Source: https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Felony-Violent-
Crimes.htm
Reflection 1

The song “Back to Life” by Vybz Kartel was released in 2012 and speaks of his time in
prison. It goes over what you should expect and what you should not expect. The first verse
cuts a clear image of what awaits lawbreakers who are found guilty, “…society deh so near
but you cyan go…” “… concrete a yuh bed and Sunday gleaner a yuh damn sheet…” creates
a visual image of what persons behind bars have to go through. It also tells of just what it is
like facing such punishment and gives a good surface-level warning to others outside the
prison bars. Almost as if he is warning others that it is not a nice place as he begins the song
saying, “Listen…”
The article entitled, “ After Committing a Crime, Guilt and Shame Predict Re-Offence” is
based on the work off of the work written by June P. Tangney expresses how one of the paths
often taken by released criminals; re-offence is caused by shame and guilt. It shows an in-
depth look at what past convicts may be going through that cause them to take up a life of
crime once again. The article also speaks to other ex-convicts who really feel remorseful and
may even become more aggressive based on their experience of being incarcerated; some
may never return to normalcy or fit into society as they lose trust and faith in the system
especially those who were wrongfully incarcerated.
The article “Felony Violent Crimes” by Mark Theoharis speaks of what violent crimes are,
and the penalties that come with committing them. This has shown me a more intricate and
detailed information relating to my topic which should be very enlightening for the
uninformed.
Reflection 2

The song uses Colloquialism, more precisely Jamaican creole. The entire song is like this
with no set part for formal language. A common technique used in the song is rhyming such
as the line ‘Listen, you cyan get … a prison…’ with ‘listen’ rhyming with ‘prison’. It also
appeals to visual imagery as most of the lines from the song describe what prison is actually
like as the artiste tries to show his audience what being incarcerated is like.
The language used in the article is formal. The vocabulary is wide with quite a bit of
unfamiliar words I had to look up. It also uses Epigraph as it quotes the text of a researcher
which the article speaks about also.
The article uses a formal tone and has informative language and does not use standard literary
devices and seems to be straight forward as it an expository piece. The source also indicates
that its content is very factual and up to date.
Reflection 3
The first artefact opened my eyes as to how bad the punishment for doing any sort of crime
can be. It showed me that the ‘badman’ lifestyle is not a proper lifestyle and what awaits
those who walk that path. While not in-depth it gave a perfect warning with good reasoning.
The descriptions and the blunt way of speaking also makes the message hit harder along with
encouraging me to not end up in such a situation.
The second artefact has widened my world view on criminals and why past criminals who
have served their times should not be judged so harshly as you can be what makes them go
back to such a life. The research has also sparked my interest in higher learning of the mind
and how it works. It also pointed out that an individual may feel less than they truly are by
being in that position, they may feel worthless or aggressive and may never fit back into the
society as they may lose trust in the system or government and laws of the country.
The third artefact has taught me much and has hammered home the dangers of doing violent
crimes along with teaching me the other consequences besides prison that can be expected. It
has also inspired me to be more informed of the laws and rulings of my country as being
ignorant is no excuse for crime when the information is readily available.
 Written Report

To begin our group activity, we formed a group of four members and brainstormed a theme
we found suitable. We first formed many ideas as possible to pick from within and discussed
them in pairs before sharing with each other. Our topic needed to involve our country or
region which led to us arriving at the theme ‘Crime’. We then all thought up our own topics
individually before coming together to share results and shape them into better versions with
a bit of help from our teacher.
To find our sources we worked individually mostly with the occasional check-in from others
in case an artefact was unfit or too broad for said person’s topic. We talked through whatsapp
so that even on weekends and holidays we could help each other sometimes suggesting
articles if we found any in our own research. My group members made sure that everyone
was always on task and this helped us to complete our Sba on time.
As we investigated I learned to recognize repetitive information and find small nuances that
could give a clue or lead to a better informative piece. I also learned the kinds of keywords to
help narrow down a search which helped speed up the progress of my SBA.

Overview of Oral Presentation

Topic: ‘What is life like after being caught for a violent crime’.
Genre: Prose
Sources Used: https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Felony-
Violent-Crimes.htm
Language and Devices Used: Formal
I intend to use a short story for my oral presentation using one of the artefacts I used for my
SBA. The artefact I will be using will be the one that speaks of the consequences of Violent
Crimes. The prose will take the form of a journal entry of a retired criminal who speaks of his
time after his trial and his short time in prison. It will mention the punishments he avoided
and how he survived being in prison.