Example Of A Griots Research Paper

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to remember a song lyrics but how hard it is to remember a concept in math? Well according to “Why do we remember song lyrics so well, but not school work?” this is because when things rhyme, flow, and are repeated it makes it easier for our brains to remember it! (Josefine, Satzke). For thousands of years people have been using songs as a means of sharing stories and spreading their history. This can date all the way back to the Mali empire in the 1300’s. “Griots and Storytellers” (Duckers). The singers of the Mali empire were known as Griots, and they functioned in West African societies as: storyteller’s, musicians, and historians. Griots would usually work for the richer class members and they work at any moment they are called upon. The Griots and Griottes (girl Griots) had to have some of the best memories in all of West Africa. Typically the role of a Griot is passed down from generation to generation, that is a ton of pressure to know that you are going to be the town's historian, musician, and story teller. Wherever the Griots went, it was their job to remember everything that happened and they were expected to be able to recite it and turn it into a song or dance. If …show more content…
They would have to memorize the history of the village or town this includes things like births, deaths, marriages, droughts, wars, and other significant events “Griots and story tellers” (Nelson, Ken). Now the important thing to remember is that back in those times reading and writing wasn't that common so it was very hard to just write it all down in a book. So Griots were the only people who could really teach just anyone and they would retain and understand the information. Being the local historians and teachers Griots had even more pressure added to them because they are responsible for teaching everyone about the ancient history of West