JORAI JACOB

Student #:1601820370

FORM 5 GROUP 2

EL DORADO WEST SECONDARY SCHOOL

Center #:16018

ENGLISH A SBA

CRIME-ARSON

2021-2022

MISS. TRUDY-MAY
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUB-HEADINGS PAGE #
Plan of Investigation 2

Artifact ONE 3

Artifact TWO 4-6

Artifact THREE 7

Reflection ONE 8

Reflection TWO 9

Reflection THREE 10

Group Report 11

Oral Presentation Plan 12

Bibliography 13

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 PLAN OF INVESTIGATION
Arson is a rare topic that is discussed in my home country of Trinidad, which is why I

chose to investigate it. The criminal act of intentionally setting fire to the property is defined as

arson. Arson is a rare occurrence or crime.

During my research, I discovered this topic to be very interesting. This SBA will benefit

me, my family, and my friends by assisting me in acquiring the needed knowledge to mitigate the

likelihood of arson.

As an English student, I anticipate that this School-Based Assessment will help me

improve my writing, comprehension, and analytical skills. My research will be based on

newspaper articles, online articles, and documentaries about arson. This data will help me write

my reflections.

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 ARTIFACT ONE
May 2014

Arson
Mad Hatter's getting narcissistic without his tea

That's how I feel when I can't burn things

but you can't spell "arsonist" without A-R-T

Maybe I'm crazy but honestly it's therapy

Bolt the door to the party and listen to them scream

Oceans of commotion won't extinguish my latest masterpiece

So kick back, fire up a cig

Get that influx of carcinogens

Conducive to my sick mind

Twisted nihilist

Got a pack of matches

Now I'm dreaming in a pipe

Erupt into flames

Sit back and look at all the pretty lights

The way they dance in the wind

Such an alluring sight

It's really just poetry in motion

As I watch through kaleidoscopic eyes

I'll smoke to that.

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 ARTIFACT TWO

Marabella arson attack leaves 2 hurt, 5 homeless

LAUREL V WILLIAMS WEDNESDAY 10 MARCH 2021

A 30-year-old man locked his visiting girlfriend in a woodwork shop in Marabella on Tuesday
night and set it on fire after an argument.

The woman, identified as Metcher Missette, 26, of Princes Town, escaped from the burning
building through the back door. However, like the suspect, she was burnt and was taken to the
San Fernando General Hospital.

The fire spread and destroyed the shop and two small wooden houses at the back, and damaged a
concrete house at the front.

The incident began at about 7 pm at Bayshore (Old Train Line) in Marabella.

Shop owner and joiner Junior Rattan said the suspect lived in a room inside the shop.

Rattan told Newsday that he was at the roadside at the front and heard the man quarrelling loudly
with his girlfriend, who was visiting.

During the quarrel, Rattan and other residents heard the suspect threatening to burn down the
shop, but they paid no mind.

Residents then saw him pouring a liquid, later believed to be a flammable substance, around the
wooden structure. A few moments later, they saw the house on fire.

He then left.

Rattan said, “It was disrespectful for him to do something like this. This is my livelihood. The
pieces of equipment were very expensive. I will be 52 years old this year, and I have been doing

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this for a long time. I left secondary school to do this. I said one day I would open a shop, and I
did.”

No one was able to save anything from the shop, as the flames spread rapidly. Rattan estimated
the destroyed equipment was worth over $80,000.

He said he knew little of the injured woman, as he had only seen her twice on previous visits.

A man identified only as Baw, his wife, and their two children lived in one of the gutted houses
at the back. No one was at home at the time of the fire.

A man identified only as Yankee lived in the other house.

A neighbour, Garvin Scott, said the fire-damaged his home and estimated it would cost
thousands of dollars to repair.

In January, Scott received keys to his home as part of the government’s Housing and Village
Improvement Programme. The project, an initiative of the Housing and Urban Development
Ministry, is managed by the Land Settlement Agency. It is geared at improving housing and
living conditions.

“By the grace of God, I still have my house. When I saw the flames, I thought I would have lost
my house,” Scott said. “I was inside last night (Tuesday) when I heard him quarrelling, thinking
was on stupidness. Then I heard a noise and saw fire.”

A relative of the suspect, Nikita Williams-Nathaniel, lives next door to the shop. Although the
suspect had not been diagnosed with any psychological illness, she believes he needs help. At
times, he would recall things he said people had done to him.

She said, “After the fire, like he did not even realize he was burnt. He later sent a message with
someone to say he was sorry. He said he did not know it (the damage) was so bad.

"I heard from his knees down was white. I never met the (injured) woman.” .

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When he has an outburst, Williams-Nathaniel usually talks to him, and he would listen and calm
down. When relatives told her about the quarrel, she never expected it would lead to the fire.

“I did not take it seriously. I say he would have gotten over it. Maybe if I had taken it seriously,
he might not have done it,” Williams-Nathaniel speculated.

Fire officials visited the scene on Tuesday night and averted additional damage. Officials from
the TT Electricity Commission visited the scene on Wednesday.

The suspect remained at the San Fernando General Hospital.

Marabella police are investigating.

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 ARTIFACT THREE
Criminal Law: The Crime of Arson

In this presentation, we discuss the crime of arson. We look at the elements of the crime, the

difference between arson and reckless burning, penalties for committing arson and how

insurance companies play a key role in preventing arson.

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 REFLECTION ONE
I have selected my subtopic which is Arson and my selected three pieces of writing

which are, a poem, a youtube video and a local news article.

Piece one is about an individual who enjoys setting fire to things. The individual uses it

as therapy, most inevitably as a form of escapism from their ailing mind. The person expresses

themselves by referring to themselves as an artist. They go on to say that what they do is a

masterpiece. This provides them with some comfort in their psyche. They also refer to

themselves as nihilists. They see the fire dancing and describe it as "pretty lights." It goes on to

confirm that the author may be ill physiologically. This is stated using the phrase "as I watch

through kaleidoscopic eyes." I don't fully comprehend how a crime that can dramatically alter

someone's life can be considered beautiful.

Piece two discusses a local news article. This story is about a woman who was locked in

a shop by her boyfriend and then set on fire. This occurred as a result of a "heated" argument

they had earlier in the day. A relative of the suspect speculated that the boyfriend had

"physiological issues." It goes on to say that the boyfriend's damage was repairable but very

expensive. This demonstrates how a single crime can drastically alter someone's life. It can also

be detrimental to a person's mental health. It makes me feel as if I can't trust people because

someone can be so enraged as to set fire to someone's livelihood.

Piece three is on a youtube video. It gives a basic overview of the elements of arson, the

difference between arson and reckless burning, the penalties of committing the crime and how

insurance has a role to play in the prevention of arson. This has led me to believe that prevention

is most important when threatened by an arson attack.

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 REFLECTION TWO
The poem depicts the sick mind of an arsonist. The author uses descriptive language and

the use of cliches and metaphors. Using this, we can see how the author describes themselves

and their actions. The tone of the poem was optimistic.

This piece creates a sense of visuall of the situation, making it easy for readers to understand this

piece.

The newspaper article made use of descriptive words as well as factual information. It

also employs Trinidad creole for translations between the reporter and onlookers. The mood was

depressing and chaotic.

The YouTube video made use of expository writing to make its points. The language used

throughout the video is also informative. Additionally, it includes examples to illustrate the

points made. The narrator's tone was concise and credible.

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 REFLECTION THREE
This SBA has taught me that the majority of people commit arson out of spite and anger.

The person who committed this crime was either physically ill, mentally ill, or simply angry, as

stated clearly in my first two pieces.

Arson can permanently alter a person's life, leaving them traumatized and severely damaged

property. It is a significant financial burden to rebuild the damaged property.

Throughout this research project, I became concerned that there are people who are

capable of such actions. Anyone with the necessary materials can commit this type of crime.

This convinced me to tell my friends and family to get insurance because this crime is so easily

committed.

This SBA, on the other hand, has greatly benefited me. My writing, comprehension, and

analytical skills have all significantly improved. I became more comfortable reading and

comprehending the tones and moods of writing pieces. My vocabulary expanded to include terms

like kaleidoscopic and carcinogens.

Working with my group, we were able to divide the workload easily and evenly, despite

the fact that some members moved faster than others. This was daunting because we had to wait

for each group member to finish their part. However, in time we have successfully executed this

SBA with very few difficulties.

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 GROUP REPORT
In this group each member investigated different aspects of crime; Mya Samaroo-Rape,

Dandra Griffit- Robbery, Carrie Kerr- Murder, Jorai Jocab- Arson and Jessel-Cybercrime. In

search of information ⅗ of the group found researching and analyzing the data was

uncomplicated since there was proper labelling of information, for example, name, date and

place. However, ⅖ found it difficult to access information because of a lack of internet access,

and faulty devices. Although in total there were 15 pieces chosen, the group chose 3 from these

15. Therefore, the group chose the most detailed piece. These pieces are a Song- Queen

Ifrica-Daddy published December 3rd 2007, Poem- "Cunning Linguist", published May 2014

and Article- "Jack the ripper first victim murdered" published by History.com Edit, February 9th

2010. In these pieces, the group gained a variety of knowledge which allowed us to become

aware of the different types of crime in society and how it impacts persons within the country.

Hence, in Rape-we learned that persons who have been raped often become depressed, and are

unable to express themselves. Thus, the major problem in this piece was, how an individual

could selfishly rape someone without caring about how the person felt afterwards. However, in

Arson- the group learned how to identify if a fire was intentionally or mistakenly done. We also

learnt about the fire triangle whereas, for a fire to start oxygen, heat and fuel must be present.

Therefore, the major issue is that starting a fire can affect someone physically like loss of

personal items and mentally-persons become stressed since they don’t have anywhere to live. In

the article Murder- we learnt about the history of Jack the ripper. Hence, the main issue is that

Jack kills downtrodden women. During our research, we encountered new vocabulary like

criminology, downtrodden and irony.

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 ORAL PRESENTATION PLAN
My presentation will consist of an expository speech and a poetry piece. These genres

were chosen because they are ideal for conveying my message. People will gravitate toward

poetry because it attracts their attention, and they will also be interested in the expository speech,

which will briefly educate them on Arson. My artefacts have provided me with enough

information to complete my presentation and share it with you all. My presentation includes a

mix of formal and informal elements because I am confident that this will make my presentation

clearer and my intellectual audience, as well as the teachers, will understand with little or no

difficulty.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
● https://phys.org/news/2014-12-short-history-arson.html

● https://youtu.be/2oHsGos6bT8

● https://youtu.be/3Y54IB4Dp-k

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