Examination Stress

CANDIDATE NAME: Tamia Williams

SUBJECT: Communication Studies

CANDIDATE SCHOOL: St. Augustine Secondary School

CENTRE NUMBER:
 Table of Content

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………… Pg.2

Preface………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Pg.3

Reflective piece

“ALL FOR WHAT!”……………………………………………………………………………..….. Pg.4

Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………..…………… Pg.9

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………….….. Pg.11

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 Introduction

The following is a portfolio which focuses on the theme “Examination Stress” under the
title “The Psychological Effects of CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) Preparation
and Examinations on Adolescences between the age group of 15 to 19 in Secondary Schools
covering 2017.

To fully cover the chosen theme the portfolio has branched into four parts. The
Expository which covers the factual aspect, the Reflective which will connect to the senses and
emotions, the analysis which evaluates the element of the creative piece in terms of language
registers and communicative behaviour. Last but not least, the Preface which addresses the
intended audience and the purpose of me choosing to do a poem entitled “ALL FOR WHAT!”

After a lot of deliberating I decided on this theme due to it somewhat uniqueness and
also I am a living example of what the stress, pressure and anxiety of these examinations can do
to young developing minds. I want others to understand what we have to go through to
become the intelligent youth that are so begged for, the ugly truth behind it all.

The Expository, a 10 minute piece, which was mentioned earlier, built the foundation of
this Internal Assessment. It touched on the challenges faced in obtaining both Primary and
Secondary data as well as the science aspect. While the Reflective allowed for me to stretch my
creative wings and fancy the imagination of the readers.

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 Preface

The title “ALL FOR WHAT!” of the poem is directed to entertain the audience. That
audience being adolescent in schools, teachers and members of CXC( Caribbean Examination
Counsel) An exclamation mark is used to signify or to emphasis the sudden outcry of the
words. The words itself are all in capital letters giving way to the outburst. This title was chosen
because it is complimentary to the piece. It’s filled with unspoken emotion, tension and
frustration. In some measure it resembles the unspoken trauma and negative psychological
effects of examination stress, particularly CSEC.

Setting of the poem is in a school auditorium where the whole school is gathered. The
main persona of the poem is a young student by the name of Shelly. In the poem she expresses
most of the feelings she had during CSEC and how they affected her. She also seems to at one
point slyly address her teacher present in the room on the parts they all played in this process.
It goes on to tell of how she connects with her peers but in what seemingly is a futile effort.
This being because as fast as what she has to say goes into one ear it comes flying right back
out the other ear.

I chose a poem because it is a very personal form of expression and more searingly
confessional literary genre one which deals more with the emotions of the reader. I t helped in
bringing across the objective to the reader in understanding how exam stress gives rises to
anxiety, memory loss, depression and can interfere with your performance.

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 All FOR WHAT!

It starts.

Drums roll,

African riddim hits the soul.

They scream and cheer; eyes balls glazed over.

Awe dripping from their un-ripened lips.

I walk to MY place,

Front and centre.

They stop.

Absolute silence scratching at the old school paint.

Cling! Cling!

The pin drops.

That’s my cue; so I begin.

Take this into account.

A moment of silence.

This silence for;

For my adolescent boy or girl.

The children bore from the womb of these Caribbean islands.

Mighty use to say

“Education, education this is the foundation,

Our rising population needs sound education.”

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 Now children listen to shelly,

Listen to how they crack they whip in approval.

But mah boy had a point,

Didn’t he?

But to what point?

Maybe,

When we pickney in bed.

Well snugged, tucked and sound asleep

All you hearing are murmurs of,

E equals to MC squared just mathematically.

It’s a stage in our lives that affects all things.

Not one other person can understand the stress CSEC brings

My affiliate’s won’t you agree?

Their animalistic hollering and roaring made me aware,

I had them now.

Your goals, your future dependant on one test.

It leads to depression n’ after emotional unrest.

The blanket of anxiety that covers the nation’s youth is almost surreal

Ah did say almost, right?

We place so much unnecessary pressure and that is the truth.

How do you encourage but not pressure,

Motivate but not discourage, and simple support in times of need?

I hold my breath and lower my lips to the mic

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 This is posted to the adults in the room.

A moment of silence for restful nights, unguilted pleasures

And just time to be free.

My condolences to you all,

May they rest in peace.

When I feel like I got it

It’s actually a joke.

When I feel there is no more work

You appear again.

CRACK!

There you go again with de whip story.

So to please you,

And well ma, pa and me too,

I caress the moon,

Seduce the clock and indulge Night in frisky business.

In return for my fraternising with his dark mysteriousness,

He impregnated my eyes.

Bags hung underneath my pretty brown pupils,

With just enough room to fit ‘Chemistry for CSEC Examination by Tania Chang- Harris and mike
Taylor.’

To be honest with you sometimes I don’t even remember…

Urm, what was I goin’ to say?

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 Nevermind.

Some of the effects of examination stress are sublet

Oh just merely affecting my ability to perform mental tasks or recall information.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember is almost never poised on the tip of your tongue.

It is as if,

One by one,

The memories you used to harbour for exams,

Decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain to a little fishing village

Where there are no phones.

They laugh as if my sudden amnesia is me being a comedian.

The sad part is I feel like I’m drowning.

Out in the ocean screaming for help.

Just when feel like I’ve conquered it

I’m paddling and I’m paddling.

But there it is

You just tied SBA’s to my right ankle and due dates to my left.

Who knew those things don’t help you float?

Ha, ha.

Most certainly not Shelly.

For a moment everyone was numb

Expect for Shelly.

This time I laughed.

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 As it comes closer to the actual exams

This is when the real anxiety strikes.

Sweat beading down your temples

And in every droplet is the thought,

“What if I forget something?”

“What if I did not study hard enough?”

‘What’ and ‘if’ as un-threating as they are

Put side by side has the power to haunt mere existence.

Nobody told me that the road would be EASY,

Believe ME,

With every BREATHE,

I push harder to succeed.

It’s a shame though.

We love in a test-conscious,

Test-giving culture and by extension world.

One in which the lives of people are in part determined by their test performance.

And with that I gracefully made my departure.

It’s a shame though,

That they left with me

Nut my story stayed in that room

ALL FOR WHAT?

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 Analysis

The analysis is a breakdown of the poem “ALL FOR WHAT!” It talks about what is
happening in the poem and how it relates to the chosen theme, “Examination stress”. As stated
in the introduction this part of the portfolio aims to address the language registers and
communicative behaviours in said reflective piece.

“ALL FOR WHAT!” is a poem of a spoken word exercise down by persona, Shelly. Even
though the topic at hand is serious due to the personality of the persona the attitude toward
the poem may come across as comical. Shelly is a student attending a Secondary school in the
Caribbean, because of this there is a combination of language registers. Language registers is
the level of formality with which one speaks. Different situations and people call for different
registers. There are five different levels of registers which are Frozen, Formal, Consultative,
Casual and Intimate. However in this Reflective piece only three of these registers are used
quite effectively. Those being a Formal register, a Consultative register and a Casual Register.

A Consultative register was implied in the poem very subtly when the persona uses the
lyrics of Trinidadian calypsonian, songwriter and guitarist Slinger Francisco famously known as
The Mighty Sparrow. In lines 18-20 of the poem she starts with, “Mighty use to say” and
continues by quoting one of his old calypsoes ‘Education is Essential’, “Education, education
this is the foundation, Our rising population needs sound education.” For more of a
conversational tone, A Casual register was used quite expressively throughout the poem when
addressing her classmates or friends in the audience. When using these registers the language
had more slangs and colloquialisms. For basic understanding of what is going on a Formal
register was used. The persona, Shelly, uses more complete sentences and avoids slang. Also
fewer contradictions were used like for example in line 70, “It is as if”, instead of using ‘it’s’ ‘it is
‘ is used.

The second aim of this analysis is to discuss and analyse the communicative behaviours.
Communicative Behaviour is the unconscious display of impressions that communicate specific
aspects of oneself to the listener by the speaker. These behaviours are grouped as Vocalic (tone
and pitch), Proxemics (proximity), Artefacts (use of objects and articles of clothing), Kinesics
(body language and facial expression) and Chronemics (attitude and use of time). Early on in the
poem Proxemics is used to show a slice of egotism in Shelly’s personality in lines 6 and 7 which
state, “I walk to MY place, front and centre.” Meaning that Shelly has a high opinion of herself
and that when the attention is on her that’s how it ought to be. Lines 9- 12 say, “Absolute
silence scratching at the old school paint. Cling! Cling! The pin drops. That’s my cue: so I begin,”

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which showed Chronemics and how she waited until she knew she had the attention of her
audience to begin her piece. This showed two things 1) more egotism and 2) the somewhat
importance of what she had to say.

In conclusion, the analysis of the registers used was effective and detailed. There was
significant usage of different communicative behaviour and language registers in the
appropriate times that were necessary. Examination stress is a tricky topic to work with. This is
mostly because Symptoms of it goes un-discussed and unnoticed in society. Not enough
relevant information is out there about how exams can damage the psychological stability of a
young adult. It is as if just because there is a need for specially qualified personnel in the labour
force that persons turn a blind eye to the conductions in which adolescent are put under to
achieve seemingly success and credential.

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 Bibliography

Websites

What is exam stress? - https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-21/edition-12/examination-

stress-and-test-anxiety

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19247838
- https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/study/exam-stress

What causes exam stress? - https://classroom.synonym.com/causes-exam-stress-7414016.html

- http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report-revealed-four-reasons-
why-students-are-stressed-before-exams-1874042

Communication studies IA guidelines? - https://www.slideshare.net/andoseeps/cape-

communication-studies-ia-49424463

- http://cape-commstudies.blogspot.com/2011/02/language-
registers.html?m=1

Effects of exam stress - https://www.kaptest.com/blog/med-school-pulse/2014/11/17/9-

harmful-effects-test-induced-stress/

- https://www.avogel.co.uk/health/stress-anxiety-low-
mood/stress/exam-stress/
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12529-008-9020-6

Education is essential lyrics - http://guanaguanaresingsat.blogspot.com/2009/03/most-recent-

addition-help-by-mighty.html

Exam stress from CSEC? - http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20150306/look-out-

depression-ahead-gsat-csec

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Books
Simons, V., Communication Studies for CAPE Examinations, 2011

Rochford, E. D., Communication Studies: Preparing students for CAPE

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