Candidate Name: Shermaine D Mc Farlene

Candidate Number:0802010172

Subject: Communication studies

Teacher: Bernadine Knights

School: T.A.Marryshow Community College –Carriacou

Territory: Grenada

Year of Examination: 2019

Project Title: Links (Poverty, Politically Motivated)

 Acknowledgements

It is a great privilege to honour those who have aided in the completion of this study. I would

like to Mrs. Venessa Patrice and Mrs Bernadine Knights, my Communication Studies

lecturers,who guided me throughout this research. Also to my family members who have played

a major role in giving me physical and emotional support during my studies. Finally, I thank the

Lord for giving me strength and vigour, so that I could complete the research.

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 Table of content

Introduction .....................................................................................................................................4

Preface ............................................................................................................................................5

Reflective Piece ...........................................................................................................................7-9

Analysis of Reflective Piece .........................................................................................................10

Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................11

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................12

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 Introduction

This portfolio focuses on“poverty, politically motivated”. It is researched and presented in the

form of a narrative entitled “Links”. According to the Oxford Dictionary”Links” refers to the

relationship between two things or situations. As a student of this institution it is my privilege to

investigate the implications that are associated to my topic. The study conducted is based on how

living in an underdeveloped community; together with political choices made by parents affect

the chances of their children, to obtain a job under the present Government of the country. It is

interesting to note that whilst the family in this narrative piece becomes a victim to this

phenomenon it is coherent that there are others in societies who are baffled by the political

intrusion in ones educational and economical status.

Furthermore, coupled with the skills and incentives acquired from my studies under the field of

Social Science and Education, this study will help me to expand my knowledge of society and its

institutions, and help my understanding on how and why people behave as they do, so that

together with those in authority, we can endeavour to elucidate and mitigate this phenomenon.

This study will also help me on my career path to becoming a teacher and a motivational

speaker.

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 Preface

“Links” is a short story about a mother, who is a single parent. She lives in a broken down shack
with her son. She is uneducated, but has done her best to make sure that her son grows up to be
well educated, respectable, speaks English fluently and most of all that he trusts in God.

This short story serves to educate and to inform the intended audience of the challenges faced by
youths in everyday life because of the social background and political choices. Also to provide
an understanding of the effects poverty has on youths, whether negative or positive.

The intended audiences are the youths and families across the country who can assist in
breaking the cycle. The government is also included because it has the power and financial
means to assist poor families regardless of their political affiliation.

To be able to share with the aforementioned audience; it is my hope that parents from all society
will formulate ways to cope with similar problems or even to prevent them from happening.

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 Reflective Piece

“Links”

Liam lay by himself on his back on his bedding and looked up pensively; no electricity, not

enough food, no water, but he had his mother. He knelt and prayed; folded his bedding, placed it

in the usual corner of the room and made his way outside to his mother at the fireside.

“Good morning beautiful angel,” Liam’s smiled broadened.

“Good morning my handsome prince,” his mother responded.

He approached her and gently wiped the sweat beading down her flushed cheeks and then he

kissed her.

As he sat at breakfast, his heart weighed heavily. He could not bring himself to tell her that he

did not get the job.

An hour later, Liam dressed himself smartly, as if he was going to work, but the truth of the

matter was; he was on his way to meet his pass school mate and good friend John. They had an

appointment for 9:30 am that morning.

Liam hugged his mom and kissed her goodbye. “I love you mom”

”I love you to son trust in God; remember he got us” his mom said as she waved goodbye.

As he was approaching the game shop, he noticed John waving frantically at him. They greeted.

“wah guan mi panda, ow u luk smat so?” John enquired.

“ I couldn’t tell mom I didn’t get the job” Liam replied.

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“Aight, so wah d sin?” John pressed.

“Well I’d really like to know where you went right and I went wrong... why you got the job and I

didn’t. This wouldn’t come between us, I’d just really like to know so that I can improve

myself.”

“ we go tak man.” John said as he shouted to the barman to bring two drinks.

Unexpectedly John blurted out enthusiastically “Links”

It startled Liam, who looked at John enquiringly.

“ u no ow mi famlay rich and urs aint have, plus, mi famlay vote for DNP an u madda vote for

CNP. Mi paps d tel mi bfore d election dat mi jab safe even if ah aint have ah subject cause mi

paps d elp d represantave wit money,so e coud win. So to pay bac mi paps, e mak sure ah gats d

jab ah d scool.” John said proudly.

Liam listened attentively in silence.

“ so u c, is nat aaal ‘bout, subjects!” mi panda, links tak u fadda dan education, evar. Way u c u

madda nah vote fa d Gavament day, u aint ah get no way in ah hurry.” John chuckled.

“ Links,” Liam uttered as if in a daze, “Links.”

“yeh das rite,” applauded John.

Tearfully and dumbfounded Liam responded emotionally.

“John, you mean to tell me that all my hard work at school, all my hard, all my hard work,

burning the after midnight oil-I have 12 subjects with 12 grade ones , I was valedictorian, top of

my class! For God sake John, You mean to tell me, none of this had anything thing to do with

landing me a job?”

“Yow bra, cam dun baye, tak it easi nah, me ah gwan bac work now,but wig wan chat lata pada.”

John said rushing out the door.

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Liam sat quietly trying to regain his composer and shaking his head in despair.

Mr. Kim, the owner of The Game Shop, who was close by and was eaves dropping on their

conversation came over and rested his right hand on Liam’s shoulder.

“12 subjects, 12 grade ones, valedictorian! You have quite a package there young man.”

Liam with head bow feeling a sense of defeat softly whispered,”yes sir”

Mr. Kim offered Liam a drink and encouraged him to tell him the whole story.

Mr. Kim and Liam drove to Liam’s home together. His mother was outside sitting outside on an

old bucket she uses as a chair at the front of the house.

Mr.Kim approached ant politely introduced himself.

Liam and Mr. Kim explained to Liam’s mother what transpired at the game shop. When they

were finished, Mr. Kim said, “If you would allow me Ms. Success, I will like to help. Your son

is a brilliant and well mannered young man and he deserved to go further.”

Liam looked at his mom and said,” mom, Mr. Kim is here to help us.”

Ms Success looked at Mr. Kim benevolently and nodded her head.

Mr. Kim began,” my intention is to send Liam to university. He has great potential.

Secondly, I have a three bedroom home on Maple Street that I don’t use. I will love to give it to

you and your son. I will be paying all the bills until your son graduates from university.”

He pauses and then addresses Ms. Success with a more business tone.

“Ms. Success, I will like to offer you a job to manage The Game Shop for me. You would be

paid fairly.”

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Liam face dropped, he and his mother could not believe that a complete stranger could be so kind

to generous to them.

Ms. Success burst into uncontrollable tears. Overwhelmed with emotions, she lifted her eyes

toward heaven in utter gratefulness. She then focused her eyes to Mr. Kim and said, “I dot know

what to say and we don’t know how to thank you.” Mr.Kim said, “think nothing of it, just say

yes.”

That evening as they knelt to pray, Liam said to his mother,”mom,you were right, God has got

us.”

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 Analysis of Reflective Piece

My reflective piece is a short story which involves characters of various social backgrounds and
ages. As such, the features of a language such as dialectal variation and communicative
behaviours can be analyzed. Standard English is the official language of my Island, Carriacou.
However, Dialectal Variation is widely used and showcases the varieties of languages which are
divided into three main parts of the dialectal spectrum: Basilect- represents the lower end of the
dialectal spectrum. Evidence of this is seen throughout John’s conversation with Liam “I gat
dis”, “wah guan mi padna,ow u luk smat so.” In this conversation, we can tell that John is very
comfortable around Liam and indicates that this dialect is the norm in John’s family as opposed
to Standard English and as such, he uses English Creole to efficiently and comfortably express
his feelings and emotions. In contrast, Liam, his mom and Mr. Kim uses the standard form of
English, as a result of the subject matter. This is depicted by Mr. Kim when he spoke with Liam:
“twelve subjects, twelve grade ones, valedictorian! You have quite a package there young
man.”Standard English is used by Mr. Kim as it reflects on his professional capacity and it is
appropriate for communicating the gravity of the various contexts.

Communicative Behaviours are generally done unconsciously but play an essential role in
communicating emotions that would otherwise not be verbally expressed. This is firstly
represented through proxemics, the use of space, when Liam lay by himself, indicating
disconnection from his mom. It’s also seen through vocalics, the use of volume and pitch, when
Liam answered his friend John in tears, implying a feeling of despair. Lastly, it’s depicted
through Kinesics, the use of body language, when Liam’s “face dropped” indicating his ecstatic
mood. Liam doesn’t directly state that he is happy, but the aforementioned cues suggest it.

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 Conclusion

In conclusion, I strongly believed that more should be done to assist the youths in my country
that is living in poverty regardless of their parents or political affiliation. In spite of assistance
from nongovernmental organizations, poverty continues to be of great concern because of
political, partisan interference in obtaining a job.All youth should be given equal opportunities in
getting a job as long as they have the qualifications.

In contrast, the wealthier families use their wealth to maintain their status by corrupting most
politicians, thus having them in their pockets and having the families in poverty remain there. As
the old fable states,”the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”Moreover, everyone deserves an
equal opportunity and should not be chosen because of their political affiliation or links.

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 Bibliography

Body LanguagePicking Up and Understanding Nonverbal Signals. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/Body_Language.htm

The Grenada Poverty Rate Is the Country's Biggest Challenge. (2018, January 8). Retrieved

from https://borgenproject.org/the-grenada-poverty-rate-is-challenge/

Oxford Dictionaries. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/oed,2018

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