1. Sundiata Introducing the Epic Literary Focus: Epic
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Introducing the Epic
Literary Focus: Epic
Reading Skills: Making Inferences from Details

2. Sundiata An Epic of Old Mali
Dogon village huts in the Bandiagara Gorge, Mali

3. Sundiata Introducing the Epic
Sundiata, from the Mandingo people of western Africa, is the best-known African epic and has been passed down by griots, or storytellers, for hundreds of years.

4. Sundiata Introducing the Epic
Like most of the world’s epics, Sundiata is a blend of fact and legend.
Sundiata Keita, the story’s hero, reestablished the Mandingo empire of Old Mali in This empire lasted more than 250 years.

5. Sundiata Introducing the Epic
Although Sundiata is based on fact, it is not a historical document.
Like many legends, the story of Sundiata is based on a history that has become greatly embellished over time.

6. Sundiata Introducing the Epic
Shared by oral historians for hundreds of years, the epic of Sundiata was first recorded by a folklorist in Guinea during the 1950s.

7. Sundiata Introducing the Epic
Translated from Mandingo into French, this version was later translated into English. Now “twice removed” from its source, the epic has lost many features of the original language, including its
alliteration
assonance
meter

8. Sundiata Introducing the Epic
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another.

9. Sundiata Introducing the Epic
Assonance is the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in words that are close together.
For example, the long a sounds in “It’s a great day for baseball” create assonance.

10. Sundiata Introducing the Epic
Meter is generally a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

11. Sundiata Introducing the Epic
Fortunately, the epic still contains some of the original songs, repetition, and proverbs that accompanied the original oral performance.
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12. Sundiata Literary Focus: Epic
An epic is a long narrative that details the triumphs and tragedies of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of his or her society.

13. Sundiata Literary Focus: Epic
Most epics blend myth, legend, folklore, and history. The epic’s tone is serious and its language grand, as the story’s protagonist, or hero, faces quests.
David by Michelangelo

14. Sundiata Literary Focus: Epic
Most ancient epics began as oral epics, which were performed by generations of storytellers before being written down.

15. Sundiata Literary Focus: Epic
Sundiata, like other epic protagonists, has an unusual childhood, showing signs of greatness at an early age.
He takes a long journey into exile before emerging as a leader of his people.

16. Sundiata Literary Focus: Epic
The supernatural plays a major role in the epic: Sundiata, his mother, his sister, and his enemies all possess superhuman powers.

17. Sundiata Literary Focus: Epic
Sundiata proves himself greater than his powerful foe, or antagonist, an evil sorcerer-king.

18. Sundiata Literary Focus: Epic
The story is told from the “all-knowing,” or omniscient, point of view of a storyteller. The narrator does not take part in the action but knows everything that is happening.

19. Sundiata Literary Focus: Epic
The battles of the epic have a larger-than-life significance: They represent a mighty conflict between good and evil.

20. Sundiata Literary Focus: Epic
An epic reflects a society’s values. As you read this excerpt from Sundiata, try to identify the values the Mandingo culture honored.
Also pay attention to the kinds of behavior this culture despised.
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21. Sundiata Reading Skills: Making Inferences from Details
What details do you notice in a story? Do you pay attention to the way a character walks, talks, or relates to family or friends?

22. Sundiata Reading Skills: Making Inferences from Details
Usually the reader has to infer, or figure out, a message by interpreting details in the text.
Even minor details can, on second glance, provide great insight into a story.

23. Sundiata Reading Skills: Making Inferences from Details
As you read, make inferences, or educated guesses, about what the details reveal about characters and their culture.
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24. Vocabulary

25. Sundiata Vocabulary Previewing the Vocabulary
affront n.: intentional insult.
deployed v.: stationed military troops.
efface v.: erase.
implored v.: begged earnestly for.
impregnable adj.: incapable of being captured.
nascent adj.: starting to grow.
razing v. used as n.: tearing down completely.

26. Sundiata Vocabulary Vocabulary Activity
Match the vocabulary word with its synonym.
affront wipe out
deployed unassailable
efface budding
implored positioned
impregnable insult
nascent leveling
razing entreated
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