answer the questions in word

The Mali Epic of Sundiata – Late 13th, early 14th c.

Things to Consider:

Geography Religion Society Politics History Treatment of Women Prophecies

Piety / Duty / Devotion: Islam animism, fetishism, and ancestor worship Language/Oral components Powerful People “in Disguise” Physical Strength vs. Mercy/Intelligence/Emotions See List of Characters (Note: Some names may be spelled slightly differently) See also the Glossary in the Text.

** Homework Questions ** See Part One
and Two Q’s


Introduction:
vii:

• Where is Mali located? When did Sundiata rule it?
• What is a griot (See also xiv, xvi, xxiii-xxiv)?

viii:

• According to the introduction, what benefit does Sundiata gain from his exile?

Background Information:

x-xi:

• What two components of the religious views of the Malinke people do you find most interesting? Explain.

xi:

• Describe the role of Islam in Malinke society.

xi-xii:

• What two components of Malinke society do you find most interesting? Explain.

xii-xiii:

• Describe the system of slavery found in Malinke society.

xiv:

• Describe the tributary system.

“Oral Tradition, Pronunciation, and Spelling”:
xv-xvi:

• Describe the African oral tradition.

Preface:
xxiv:

• Explain: “The West has taught us to scorn oral sources in matters of history” (xxiv).

---

Other Discussion Questions:

• What Disney Movie is (loosely) based on this story?

[From the pdf]


97:

• What is narrative?
• What is the hajj?

98:

• What is the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive oral narrative?
• What is an epic?

99:

• Explain the significance / purpose of the African praise song or poem.

101:

• With which two religious figures is Sundiata most directly associated? Explain.

From the Book:


vii:

• Which country once colonized Mali?
• What is syncretism?
• What is fetishism?

ix:

• What is the “Bright Country”?
• What is the name of the main river in the region?

xiv:

• Describe the role of the griot.

---

** Part One Homework Questions **

1
:

• Why does this griot introduce himself?

5-6:

• Explain the hunter’s prophecy.

7-8:

• Who is the Buffalo of Do? Why does she tell the hunters how to kill her?

11
:

• Why do the brothers “give” Sogolon Kedjou to Maghan Kon Fatta?

12:

• How does Nare Maghan “conquer” Sogolon?

18
:

• Why is Djata not made king when his father dies?

22
:

• Explain: “Man, under the influence of certain illusions, thinks he can alter the course which God has mapped out, but everything he does falls into a higher order which he barely understands” (22).
• Explain: “The multitude loves and fears strength” (22). (See also “The people love all who assert themselves over them” (37)).

24
:

• Explain: “The snake seldom bites the foot that does not walk” (24).
  

27
:

• Why does Sundiata accept exile?

---

Other Discussion Questions:

2
:

• Why is Sundiata considered “the son of the Buffalo, the son of the Lion” (103)?
• Who is Bilali Bounama?

3:

• Who are Maghan Kon Fatta and Sogolon Kedjou?
• Who are Sassouma Berete and Dankaran Touman?

4:

• Why does the hunter give a leg to Maghan Kon Fatta?

6:

• Who are Oulamba and Oulani?

8:

• Why has the Buffalo been ravaging Do?
• What is a wraith?
• How does the treatment of the Buffalo after her death compare with that of Gilgamesh and Enkidu and the Bull of Heaven?

13
:

• Why is there a storm when Sologon gives birth?

14:

• Explain the naming ceremony.
• What is the child’s name?

16
:

• Why does Nare Maghan “debar” Sogolon from his house?

17:

• Who is Balla Fesseke?

19
:

• Why does Sogolon hit her son?

23
:

Who is Alexander the Great?

27
:

• Why does Dankaran Touman send Balla Fesseke away?

30-31
:

• How does Djata “win” at wori with Mansa Konkon?

34
:

• Explain: “Modesty is the portion of the average man, but superior men are ignorant of humility” (34). Do you agree?

36
:

• What is “booty”?

---

** Part Two Homework Questions **

• What is a jinn?
• What is a fetish?

40
:

• Explain: “Kings are only men, and whatever iron cannot achieve against them, words can” (40).

40-41:

• Why does every king want a griot?

41:

• Who is Soumaoro Kante? How does he compare with Gilgamesh?

42
:

• Who is Fakoli Koroma? Why does he defect to Djata’s side?
  

47
:

• How does Sundiata “pay” for his mother’s burial plot? Explain the symbolism of his offering to the king.

65
:

• How does Djata defeat Soumaoro?

69
:

• Why does Sundiata destroy Sosso?

82
:

• What kind of king is Sundiata considered to be?

---

Other Discussion Questions:

38
:

• Why does Dankaran send his sister, Nana Triban, to the king of Sosso?

41
:

• Explain: “Whoever knows the history of a country can read its future”(41).
• How, according to Konyate’, has writing “killed the faculty of memory” (41)?
• Explain: “Sosso was the bulwark of fetishism against the word of Allah” (41).
• What does it mean to defile a family?

43:

• Why does the griot present a catalog of the members of the search party? (See also the catalog of warriors on page 55).

47
:

• Who is Moussa Tankara?

54
:

• Why can’t Djata defeat Soumaoro at this time?

58
:

• Why does Soumaoro tell Nana Triban the secret of his success?
• What is a Tana?
• Explain: “I am the word and you are the deed” (58).

63
:

• Why must Djata listen to what his ancestors have done?

66
:

• Who hates Soumaoro more, Djata or Fakoli? Explain.

67
:

• What happens to Soumaoro?

69:

• What is “begging for quarter” (69)?

70
:

• Why does Sundiata shave the heads of the young men of Diaghan?

71
:

• What is the moghoya-dji?

74:

• Compare the description of Sundiata and Soumaoro on this page with that of Gilgamesh and Enkidu at the beginning of their text.

77:

• What happens to Sossa Balla, Soumaoro’s son?

78:

• Why will the imperial family of Keita take wives in Do?

80
:

• Explain: “The day you are fortunate is also the day when you are most unfortunate, for in good fortune you cannot imagine what suffering is” (80).

81:

• Why are Fakoli’s lands confiscated?

83
:

• Explain: “Mali is eternal” (83).