English SBA
Topic: Superstitions
Put a pic here
Candidate Name: Jalil Matthews
Candidate Number: 20190097472
Centre Name: St. Mary’s College
Centre Number:
Teacher: Mr. Gyanchand Rayman
Table of Contents
Subtopic: How do different superstitious beliefs affect our society?
Group Members:
1. Jalil Matthews
2. Rishon Daniel
3. Jamar Nathoniel
4. Pulkit Mathur
5. Jesse Kennedy
Plan of Investigation
The topic for my English SBA is “Superstitions”. I plan on investigating how different superstitious
beliefs affect our society. I have chosen this subtopic because, as an immigrant I am not quite
familiar with the superstitions that persons believe in, in this society. Therefore, I am curious to
learn of these different superstitions. As an English student, I will be benefiting from this
investigation as my research skills improve an also my communication skills. I also expect to
develop my understanding of writers’ techniques and use of language. To ensure that I am
successful in this investigation the materials collected will vary, a blog from the internet,
newspaper article from the internet and a video from YouTube.
Sources of Data
1. A blog from the internet: https://blog.virginatlantic.com/caribbean-voodoo/, Posted on October
21st, 2014
In St Lucia, superstitions that survive to this day include the belief that a woman who
opens up an umbrella indoors will never be married. If you crawl on your knees, you’ll
cause an argument to brew that will result in great tension in the house. Wearing a new
ring on a left ring finger as an unmarried woman is enough for a family to disown a
daughter. Yet dressing in black underwear will keep evil spirits away and help you sleep
better. And if you get lost, simply take off your clothes and turn them inside out before
redressing – it will always help you find your way home.
2. A newspaper article from the internet:
http://dominicanewsonline.com/news/homepage/news/general/ghost-st-lucia/, uploaded on
October 17th 2013
When a man in the small community of Sarrot in Bexon, St. Lucia decided to take a photo of himself,
little did he know it would turn into a sensation.
According to HTS News when the photo was viewed, something in the background “turned out to be
a shocking revelation.”
The daughter of the man said only three individuals were in the room when the photo was taken but
somehow something else appeared in it.
And she said it does not look like any of the other people present.
Soon news of the photo began spreading and residents of the community became convinced that
the image in the picture is not human.
Many said it is in fact what is well known by folks in St. Lucia as a ‘bolom.’
According to St. Lucian folklore, a bolom is a two or two-and-a-half-foot man brought into the world
on Good Friday by someone with evil intent. After it is brought into existence, the bolom carries out
its master’s evil bidding with great relish.
The stories go on to say that the bolom survives on raw meat, which the master must supply in great
quantities or be eaten himself.
Family members of the man in Bexon are now convinced that there are unwanted guests in the
house and some supernatural being has taken over.
3. A newspaper article from the internet:
https://www.stlucianewsonline.com/we-must-stop-the-voodoo-in-politics-says-guy-joseph/,
published on the
Several United Workers Party (UWP) supporters were on Sunday
cheering on Castries South East Member of Parliament (MP), Guy Joseph,
when he said prayers are not enough to address the issues facing Saint
Lucia.
Joseph told the UWP public meeting held at Babonneau that Saint Lucia
is on the road of “transgression not only politically, but spiritually.”
While using the political platform to quote various Bible scriptures to
support his argument, Joseph said people whose hand are tainted with
blood, “cannot be the ones to lead this country into prayer.”
“For us to rescue this country, we must stop the bloodshed, we must
stop the voodoo, we must stop the sacrificing of lives to be elected into
political office,” he added.
The former Works Minister noted too that before “they repent, they have
to confess.”
Joseph made these comments even amid plans by the UWP, to host a
National Day of Prayer, to be held at the Vigie Multipurpose Sports
Complex on Sunday, April 17, 2016.
The event is expected to feature prayer and worship, and several
Christian preachers will be in attendance.
Political Leader of the UWP, Allen Chastanet, recently posted on his
Facebook page, that there are many tragic incidents happening on the
island.
“So many young people are turning to suicide. Too many incidents of
rape. Too many homicides. We need prayer. We need to pray. Join me
and my colleagues as we unite as one to pray for our country.
#WeNeedPrayer.”
Reflection
Entry 1
The first piece of material that I explored on my topic is an online blog, titled Caribbean
Voodoo from https://blog.virginatlantic.com/caribbean-voodoo/ , where I have extracted a
paragraph as my subtopic is very specific hence the information receivable is limited. This
paragraph directly relates to my subtopic. It educates its reader by informing them of the
superstitious beliefs of the society of St. Lucia. It gave multiple examples of a few different
superstitions and it also spoke about how they survived up to this day. This now gives me
a better understanding of the behavioral patterns of the people of my society and why
they say the things they say.
An online news article titled “A Ghost in St. Lucia” from
http://dominicanewsonline.com/news/homepage/news/general/ghost-st-lucia/ is the second
piece of material that I investigated. It gave reports on a ghost seen in the small
community of Sarrot in Bexon. The picture taken shows the ghost in the background, in
this society this supernatural creature is known as a ‘Bolom’. This now leads me to believe
that it has stirred up many superstitious persons in the society and it also made those
who previously didn’t believe in superstitions now do so.
My final piece of data is also an online article titled “We must stop the voodoo in politics”
fromhttps://www.stlucianewsonline.com/we-must-stop-the-voodoo-in-politics-says-guyjoseph/
it gives a report on the speaker at the moment Hon. Guy Joseph at a public UWP political meeting.
Throughout his speech he was quoting biblical verses and requested that the country pray and
that voodoo must not be used. What ive athered from this, is that many of our political leaders
are superstitious and that those who follow thesese leaders may believe in what the believe and
so they may be superstious themselves.
We have to be careful. Perhaps superstition founded on reality where behavior goes
beyond what is practical & reasonable? Rethink as superstition cannot be supported by
reality
Entry 2
The language used in this blog was both formal in informative. The paragraph extracted was easily
understandable and this was instrumental to me as I now know a lot more of the superstitious beliefs in
this society.
In the second piece of data the
