The Mali Epic of Sundiata - Late 13th, early 14th c.
Things to Consider:
History
Piety / Duty / Devotion
Prophecies
Treatment of Women
Islam
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)
** Homework Questions ** See Part Two Q's
What Disney Movie is (loosely) based on this story?
98:
What is a griot?
99:
Explain the significance / purpose of the African praise song or poem.
113:
With which two religious figures is Sundiata most directly associated?
Explain.
120:
Why do the brothers "give" Sogolon Kedjou to Maghan Kon Fatta?
How does Nare Maghan "conquer" Sogolon?
123:
Why is Djata not made king when his father dies?
125:
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" (125).
Explain: "The multitude loves and fears strength" (125). (See
also "The people love all who assert themselves over them" (132)).
126:
Explain: "The snake seldom bites the foot that does not walk"
(126).
127:
Why does Sundiata accept exile?
Other Discussion Questions: 97:
What is narrative?
What is the hajj?
98:
What is the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive oral narrative?
What is an epic?
Why does the griot introduce himself?
115:
Why is Sundiata considered "the son of the Buffalo, the son of the Lion"
(115)?
116:
Who is Bilali Bounama?
Who are Maghan Kon Fatta and Sogolon Kedjou?
Who are Sassouma Berete and Dankaran Touman?
Why does the hunter give a leg to Maghan Kon Fatta?
117:
Explain the hunter's prophecy.
118:
Who are Oulamba and Oulani?
Who is the Buffalo of Do?
Why does she tell the hunters how to kill her?
Why has she been ravaging Do?
What is a wraith?
How does the treatment of the Buffalo after her death compare with that
of Hector and the Bull of Heaven?
121:
Why is there a storm when Sologon gives birth?
Explain the naming ceremony.
What is the child's name?
122:
Why does Nare Maghan "debar" Sogolon from his house?
Who is Balla Fesseke?
123:
Why does Sogolon hit her son?
125:
Who is Alexander the Great?
127:
Why does Dankaran Touman send Balla Fesseke away?
129:
How does Djata "win" at wori with Mansa Konkon?
131:
Explain: "Modesty is the portion of the average man, but superior
men are ignorant of humility" (119). Do you agree?
132:
What is "booty"?
** Part Two Homework Questions **
What is a jinn?
What is a fetish?
134:
Explain: "Kings are only men, and whatever iron cannot achieve
against them, words can" (134).
Why does every king want a griot?
Who is Soumaoro Kante? How does he compare with Gilgamesh?
135:
Who is Fakoli Koroma? Why does he defect to Djata's side?
How does this scenario compare to that between Agamemnon and Achilles in
the Iliad?
137:
How does Sundiata "pay" for his mother's burial plot? Explain
the symbolism of his offering to the king.
146:
How does Djata defeat Soumaoro?
148:
Why does Sundiata destroy Sosso?
154:
What kind of king is Sundiata considered to be?
Other Discussion Questions: 133:
Why does Dankaran send his sister, Nana Triban, to the king of Sosso?
134:
Explain: "Whoever knows the history of a country can read its
future"(134).
How, according to Konyate', has writing "killed the faculty of memory"
(134)?
Explain: "Sosso was the bulwark of fetishism against the word of Allah"
(134).
What does it mean to defile a family?
137:
Who is Moussa Tankara?
139:
Why can't Djata defeat Soumaoro at this time?
142:
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" (142).
145:
Why must Djata listen to what his ancestors have done?
146:
Who hates Soumaoro more, Djata or Fakoli? Explain.
147:
What happens to Soumaoro?
148:
Why does Sundiata shave the heads of the young men of Diaghan?
149:
What is the moghoya-dji?
153:
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"
(153).
