Paragraph Frame

Topic Sentence: Written and oral tradition was important to the

transmission of African history and culture for many reasons.

Concluding Sentence: The lack of written language in early Africa, the

eventual development and writing of stories, and the morals that folktales transmit

to descendants of early Africans demonstrate the importance of written and oral

tradition in Africa.

RDF: Reason/Detail/Fact One chief reason that oral story-telling was

critical to history’s preservation is that early Africa had no written

language.

RDF: Reason/Detail/Fact Moreover, once written language was developed, it

became crucial that people who could write down stories must do so.

RDF: Reason/Detail/Fact Another form of written and oral tradition that

transmitted important history and culturally important morals was

folktales.

EEs: Examples, Explanations, Evidence Descendants of early Africans

spent evenings listening to griots, the keepers of stories, tell

magnificent tales of older days. EEs: Examples, Explanations, Evidence Often accomplished musicians or

dancers, griots were entertaining and involved their audience in the

telling of the tale.

EEs: Examples, Explanations, Evidence Due to unstable conditions such as wars

and the industry of slavery, Africans depended on these written diaries,

songs, letters, and histories to go with them as they moved from place to

place. EEs: Examples, Explanations, Evidence As Africans were imported to the

Indies, Europe, and the Americas, written stories and songs began to

contain secret codes which helped many escape to freedom.

EEs: Examples, Explanations, Evidence While almost all cultures have

their own folktales, the West African griot’s skillful telling,

chanting, dancing, and singing of the tale makes the listening a

truly pleasurable event.

EEs: Examples, Explanations, Evidence Folktales can serve as a map to

trace the ancestry of people because of the slight changes that have

been made to original African folktales which reflect newer

environments.