Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate
School Based Assessment
Candidate Name: Christian Reynolds
Candidate Number:
Centre Name: Saint Joseph High School
Centre Number:
Year of Examination: 2023
Teacher: Ms. Anthony
Subject: English A
Topic: Music
Sub-topic: Music as a Motivational Tool
Territory: Guyana
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………….1
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………2
Plan of Investigation………………………………………………………………………..3
Reflection 1…………………………………………………………………………………4
Reflection 2……………………………………………………………………………...….5
Reflection 3…………………………………………………………………………………6
Group Written Report………………………………………………………………..…7 & 8
Plan of Oral Presentation……………………………………………………………………9
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………..10
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Acknowledgement
Firstly, I would like to thank God for giving me the patience, strength and resources
needed to complete the School Based Assessment. Also, I would like to thank my teacher and
the group members for helping me meet the necessary expectations for the SBA. At last, I
would like to thank my family and friends for their moral support.
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Introduction
Music is an art form that combines either vocal or instrumental sounds, sometimes
both, using form, harmony and expression of emotion to convey an idea. Music represents
many different forms that play key factors in cultures around the world. Motivation can be
similarly derived from listening to music. Music and mood have an intrinsic connection.
Music can motivate many daily activities as it can regulate mood, increase productivity and
raise spirits. There is no doubt music is a powerful tool in our lives. It can change your
mindset, helping you become the positive and motivated person you aim to be.
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Plan of Investigation
My group topic for the English SBA is ‘Music’, however, I will be focusing on
‘Music as a motivational tool’. The selection of my sub-topic was due to music improving my
mood while studying. It helps me to relax and focus on the task at hand. As a student of
English, this SBA will help to widen my vocabulary because I will come across different
words and terms during my research. This SBA will also help to improve my comprehension
skills and my ability to use both written and unwritten, when writing my reflections and
doing my oral presentation. In order to complete my investigation, I plan to use a poem and
two songs from the internet for my artefacts.
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Reflection 1
‘The healing power of music’ by Alex Doman which was released in 2018 is quite
eye opening, because it shows that the right music has the power to restore and uplift your
entire being. It talks about relieving us from stress, depression and anxiety so that it changes
our thoughts and emotions in a positive way. The knowledge I gained from this poem is that
music can help improve/enlighten mood because of the tone the poem gives to the reader.
The stanza also might speak to the reader. I know this because in the poem it says “Music
brings us pleasure and releases our suffering. It can calm us down and pump us up.”
‘Stronger’ by Kelly Clarkson which was released in 2011 is very uplifting and I think
the song is about getting up and moving on from a stressful situation. The idea of the song is
the importance of seeing that tough times often make us more understanding of people and
situations. From this song I learn that it is possible to be stronger despite experiencing pain
and tragedy, meaning that when you look at negative things in a positive light, you can turn
them into personal achievements and learn from those mistakes.
‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ by Bobby McFerrin is about staying positive and happy in
predicaments. The idea in Bobby McFerrin’s song which was released in 1988 highlights,
that connecting ideas like how trouble in everyone’s life is guaranteed, but by worrying it
only becomes worse. From this song I’m aware that it deepens life itself because it provides
generally applicable advice to people's problems with a theme many people do not hear.
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Reflection 2
The piece ‘The healing power of music’ is a formal piece that is written to direct the
importance of how music allows us to feel all the emotions that we experience in our lives.
This poem was very convincing to send the message to the reader as to how music can raise
your mood, bring excitement, or calm you down.
The song ‘Stronger’ is a resilience piece. In this song the artist’s uses repetition: Just
me, myself, and I. Also, the word that is repeated is Stronger. I think it's repeated to give
importance to the word. She sings about standing up for yourself and having the strength and
mindset to achieve what you want, when you want it.
The song ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is a simple piece that has an element of rhyme; an
example of rhyme in the song would be “Ain't got no place to lay your head Somebody came
and took your bed” this is rhyme because the words “Bed” and “Head” rhyme. The rhyme
will be effective in conveying its message because it’s catchy and easier to remember.
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Reflection 3
With the completion of this SBA, I have gained more insight about the importance of
how music affects persons mentally, physically and emotionally. The sub-topic I chose to
investigate intrigued me as I was amazed by the myriad of reasons of how music can
motivate persons. Through the execution of this SBA, I was able to increase my knowledge
on the sub-topic ‘Music as a motivational tool’.
My experience of working in a group was challenging as the completion and
submission of tasks brought about difficulties at times. However, the student found it
prerogative to cooperate with peers to exchange information while gaining new knowledge of
another's sub-topic. Even so, the group members collaborated, and the SBA was submitted
and completed.
Choosing artifacts that best suited my sub-topic was easier than I thought it would be,
probably because I can relate to it since I experience it. This SBA helped to improve my
vocabulary as well as strengthen my researching, reasoning and comprehension skills.
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Group Written Report
The topic we selected for our English S.B.A is "Music" with the subtopics, “the link
between chutney music and alcoholism”, "Dancehall Music as an Agent of Violence",
“Evolution of pop music”, ‘Music as a motivational tool and “the impact of dancehall music
promoting sexual behaviour amongst teenagers”.
Our artefacts were effectively chosen and based on our subtopics; nonetheless,
choosing these themes was challenging because most of them did not fit the criteria for
completing our reflections. Altogether our group had 15 artefacts to choose from. We then
went ahead with our selection and elimination process. The three artefacts chosen were two
songs and one article, The first song, Kill Dem by Vybz Kartel (2009), the second song
“Teenage Pregnancy” by Vybz Kartel (ft. Gaza Kim) (2009) and the article “Rum Is Not
Your Lover '' written by Aminta Kilawan-Narine (2018).
The group held a meeting via WhatsApp/google meeting which aimed to discuss what
artefacts were the most interesting and gave the most relevant information on the topic. The
three artefacts selected were shared with all the group members to include in their project.
The artefact “Rum Is Not Your Lover '' written by Aminta Kilawan-Narine (2018)
utilises some of the lyrics in Ravi B’s song “Rum Is Meh Lover'' to relay how prominent the
theme of drinking rum is popular in chutney songs. Predominantly leading to infidelity,
intimate partner violence, alcoholism and even suicide. This article has taught us about the
negative effects of alcohol use, including drinking regularly or almost regularly, dependence
on alcohol to get through difficult times or to get through the day, not feeling physically well
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without a little daily alcohol consumption, drinking in secret, and the numerous reasons why
people drink.
The song, Kill Dem by Vybz Kartel (2009) aims to portray violence as the main cause
of death in today's society. The message of the song was that using violence against someone
who has lied to you is acceptable. We learned that individuals may resort to violence to
suppress their emotions. Vybz Kartel to convey the message of this song would have taught
us self-protection as a way of suppressing your emotions.
The song “Teenage Pregnancy” by Vybz Kartel (ft. Gaza Kim) (2009) revealed that
dancehall music taken to an extent can promote sexual behaviour and this song has proven
that the glorification of sexual immorality is a popular theme in dancehall music. The aim of
this song was to enlighten us on some of the concerns about being pregnant while in school
which aims to warn us about the harmful and negative consequences of engaging in such and
we do believe that as time progresses more dancehall music will be produced by the industry
which will portray promiscuous and sexual behaviours that will continuously increase rowdy
behaviours among young people.
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Plan of Oral Presentation
Topic: Music
Sub-topic: Music as a motivational tool
Genre: Poem (Free Verse)
Source: Original piece
Language used: Rhyme, rhyme to make the message more acceptable, repetition to make the
message more memorable, simile to create compelling visual images and emphasize
emotional tones and rhetorical question to subtly influence the audience.
Reason for selecting genre: The reason I selected poem for my oral presentation is because I
love poetry and I believe that it will allow me to express myself and broadcast my message
more effectively as I am very passionate about the arts.
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Bibliography
Clarkson, K. (2011, December 14). Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What doesn’t Kill You)
[Official Video]. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://youtu.be/Xn676-fLq7I
Doman, A. (2018). The healing power of music. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from
https://www.outofstress.com/music-heals-quotes/
McFerrin, B. (2009, February 24). Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry Be Happy (Official Music
Video). Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://youtu.be/d-diB65scQU
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