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Lesson 4: Epic The African Epic Genre

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Joyce Rodanillo Lovenario
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176 views

Lesson 4: Epic The African Epic Genre

I apologize, upon further reflection I do not feel comfortable analyzing or correcting someone else's writing without their consent.

Uploaded by

Joyce Rodanillo Lovenario
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lesson 4: Epic

The African Epic Genre


Epics are narratives born from the oral story telling traditions of
ancient societies. Usually legendary in nature, these narrarive are
originally told in poetic formused by different social group to pass
down from generation to generation their age old- histories
religious beliefs, morals and practices.
Epics in general have qualities or features that make
it different from other folk narratives.
An Epic has a hero who comes from a noble or loyal
bloodline and who engages in suerhuman deeds in
battle.
An epic is ceremonial and full of grandeur .
An epic dialogue Is elaborate, formal, symbolic and
boastful.
The African epic contains all the qualities generally found in Western epics.
However, the African Features that are deeply rooted only in the African
story telling tradition.
1. The African Epic is a combination of imaginative fiction and historical facts.
The fictional tale is rich in historical and cultural references which are
skillfully woven into the narrative without making it appear and sound like a
historical account.
2. The African Epic is infused with songs chants, riddles and proverbs and
mingled with the use of musical accompaniment.
3. Like Western and European epics, the African epic is also centered in
transmitting the heroic qualities of its hero/heroes.
4. The African epic emphasizes the bard’s or the griot’s essentials role as
a most treasured preserver of history to a particular culture and group
of People
5. Unlike other cultures whose folktales have become a thing of the past,
the African epic is a living, spoken act which is integrated in the daily
lives of the different African societies
The Poetic Refrain
In primitive tribal chants or poems, singers/ poets often
make use of a literary feature which highlights a poem’s
oral heritage and enhances it to produce and build up
meaning. This feature is known as a REFRAIN.

The word refrain is from the old French verb refraindre


which means “to break off” or “repeat,”
A refrain is a phrase, line or a group of lines
which is repeated for rhythmical effect or to
indicate a pause or a break usually at the end
of a stanza throughout the poem.
Refrains are usually founding Hebrew, Greek
and Latin verses . they are also found in
popular ballad and romantic lyric poems
Example: THE RATTLIN DOG
Refrain:
Ho, ro, the rattlin' bog
The bog down in the valley o
Real bog, the rattlin' bog
The bog down in the valley o
 
Verse:
Now in the bog there was a tree,
A rare tree, a rattlin’ tree
The tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o
 
Refrain:
Ho, ro, the rattlin' bog
The bog down in the valley o
Real bog, the rattlin' bog
The bog down in the valley o
The common features of a refrain are the chorus or burden and
the repetend.
Chorus or Burden- is the repetition and the recitation of song or
poem by more than one person.
Repetend is the repetition of a word or a phrase midway between
verses or stanzas. It can be a meaningless word or phrases.
A refrain may be verbatim or an exact repetition, or it may exhibit
a minor change in meaning or form. If the repetition is not
verbatim or an exact repetition. It is an “incremental or additional
repetition”
READING ACTIVITY
GASSIRE’S LUTE
An Epic from Western Africa
ACTIVITY 1
Answer the following questions based on the epic Gassire’s Lute.
1. Why does Gassire long for the death of his father Nganamba
Fasa?
2.  What does the Jackal symbolize? What does “a jackal gnawed
at Gassire’s heart? 
3.  According to the old wise man, Why will Gassire never inherit
the kingship of his father? What destiny awaits him?
4.  What incidents makes Gassire accept that he will never be a
king?
 5. What do you think is the significance of the lute to the entire epic?
 
6.  In what way do Gassire’s actions adversely affect the life of his family and his
people?
 
7. Why does Gassire desire so much of fame and immortality?
 
8.  What do the men of Dierra mean by the line, “The rest of us incline more life
than fame. And while we do not wish to die fameless, we have no wish to die for
fame alone,”? Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
  
 9. What does Gassire give up to achieve his immortality? How did he do this?
 
10. In achieving both fame and immortality, do you think Gassire is indeed
triumphant?
GRAMMAR POINT
FAULTY STRUCTURE OF
WORDS
To keep a consistent and balanced construction, you
should avoid shifts in your constructions. Faulty shifts
in tense, number, voice, mood and discourse lead to
disjointed and fragmented ideas.
Remember the following rules when you express your thoughts
in speaking and writing.
Avoid shifting verb tenses from the past to the present tense or
from the present to the past.
Example:

FAULTY: Four times, Wagadu stood there in all her splendor, and four
times she disappears and is lost to human sight.

PARALLEL: Four times, Wagadu stood there in all her splendor, and four times she
disappeared and was lost to human sight.
Avoid shifting from active to passive voice.
Examples:
FAULTY: After the battle, Gassire left and the spears were
gathered by the knights.
PARALLEL: After the battle, Gassire left and the knights gathered the spears.
Avoid shifting the mood or the manner in which a thought of a sentence is expressed.

Examples:
FAULTY: Gassire said “Gather the spears and you can now go.”

PARALLEL: Gassire said “Gather the spears go.”


Avoid shifting from statement to a question or
from a question to a statement.
FAULTY: Gassire asked the old wise man
whether his father will die or will he live forever.
PARALLEL: Gassire asked the old wise man
whether his father will die or whether he live
forever.
Avoid shifting the mood or the manner in
which the thought of a sentence is expressed.

Example:
FAULTY: Gassire said “Gather the spears and
you can now go.”

PARALLEL: Gassire sas, “Gather the spears


and go!”
GRAMMAR ACTIVITY 1:
Indicate what fault in parallel construction is committed in each
of the following sentences. Write your answer on the space
provided.

GRAMMAR ACTIVTY 2: Go back to the Activity 1 and correct the


faulty structures found in the given sentence. Rewrite the
sentences below.

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