Death, and Life and Death: A Myth From The Kono Tribe (Guinea)

PERUSE AND READ
The African myth you are about to read is a creation story from the Kono tribe of
Guinea. Like most creation stories, this myth narrates the origin of death and life,
and the many races that populate the earth.
As you read, think about what similarities you can find between this creation
story and that of the Judeo-Christian version, the combined form of two religions,
Judaism and Christianity.

Death, and Life and Death
A Myth from the Kono Tribe
(Guinea)
PROBE WORD MEANINGS
Finding Similar Words
Identify the word or phrase that is similar in meaning to
the italicized word given in each sentence. Choose the
letter of the correct answer from the box below. Write
your answers on the spaces provided before the numbers.
polite pursued
area exremely angry
directly upset
uncleanness unfriendly
anxious shocked
Hardened

________1. Sa and his family lived in this filth and instability for many years.
________2. Alatangana was appalled at the mess in which they lived.
________3. To set things right, Alatangana first consolidated the mud into solid
earth.
________4. This lifeless expanse across which he could now walk still
depressed him.
________5. Sa at first was diplomatic in refusing to let Alatangana marry his
daughter.
________6. But finally he explicitly refused Alatangana’s request.
_______7. Alatangana, however, wooed Sa’s daughter.
_______8. Having children with different skin color did not distress Alatangana.
_______9. Rather than face his hostile father-in-law, he decided to send two
messengers.
_______10. When the two returned to Alatangana, he was furious at the
nonsense they reported about a song they had learned.
LITERARY POINT
Myths
During the pre-historic times when the
world was untamed and undeveloped,
there existed stories or tales that were
orally transmitted to keep a group of
people’s culture alive. These stories
which strengthened people’s beliefs,
values, and practices bound people
together. These stories are called “myths”
The word myth originated from the Greek
mythos which means “story” or word”
Myths are stories of the distant past which
are believed to be true by the peoples of a
particular culture.
General Features/Characteristics Of
Myths.
•Sacred or religious in nature and are
often ceremonial or ritualistics.
•Reflect the social order or values of a

particular culture or a group of people.
Represent a particular culture’s manner
of understanding nature and how this
understanding is applied to one’s society
and life:
Feature non- human or super natural

beings, human beings with heroic and
superhuman qualities.
•Arouse the senses to the unknown
and the msyterious.
•Tell about the foundation or the origin

of the world or universe (cosmos)

African myths differ from other
myths for the following reasons.
•They are still very much a relevant part
of the Africans’ practical day-to-day
living. The myths are told and retold to
teach respect for all living things and for
the land they inhabit.
African myths show the connection
and harmony between the human spirit
and the spirit of the world in the
development of one’s character and
values.
African myths are sacred in nature
as evidenced by the Africans’ beliefs
in a supreme being and spirits, their
devotion to their ancestors and other
ritualistic practices.
•Unlike the myths of other countries
which are now merely considered
remnants or reliecs of a long forgotten
past, African myths are kept live in the
Africans’ psyche and are used as effective
vehicles in forming the minds and
strengthening and enriching the inner
core of every African.
In the African culture, the most common
myths deal with creation. A creation myth
is a story that seeks to explain the
beginning of the world and the
mysterious events that happen in it.
Generally, it involves a God who creates
the world out of a vast, dark and empty
sphere/ the God and Goddesses who
inhabit it have no historical beginning or
recorded births, nor do they have definite
places of residence. In addition, these God
and Goddesses, although having
attributes, manifest human weakness.
ACTIVITY 1: POINT OUT CONNECTIONS
Showing Relationships
Search from the Internet for the Judeo-Christian story of
creation. Read it and look for details or information that
show the relationship of this creatin story with that of the
African creation myth based on the elements indicated.
Element Judeo- African
Christian
Setting
Character/s
Plot
Theme
GRAMMAR POINT
Parallel Structure of Words
Study the following sentences from the myth
“Death, Life and Death.” Take note of the words
in italics.
1. Not long afterward, the rooster broke into
song, the tou-tou birdsang its first notes, and
dawn began to appear.
2. Alatangana was furious at the nonsense the
messengers reported, but he was grateful for
the gift that Sa has given.

Parallel structure refers to the use of grammatical
elements or patterns that have the same function and
express similar and balanced ideas. For example, if the
first element in a group of words is a noun, then the
following items should also be nouns; if it is a verb,
then all the other items should also be verbs.

FIRST QUARTER
LESSON 2
The following are some examples:
In this world lived only Sa, his wife and the only
daughter. (nouns)
The god Alatangana came to visit Sa, was
appalled at what he saw, and condemned Sa
forthe filth. (verbs)
3. The world that Sa created was dark, filthy, and
lifeless. (adjectives)
4. Alatangana recreated Sa's world neatly, nicely,
and decently. (adverbs)

In constructing sentences having similar
or parallel forms, the following rules
should be observed:
Use parallel structure with elements joined by
the coordinating conjunctions for, and, nor, but,
or,yetand so.
Examples:
In the beginning there was nothing: matter
norlight existed.
The plants covered the new earth, and animals
lived on it.

Sa cursed Alatangana, for he eloped with Sa's
daughter.
Use parallel structure with elements in a list or in a
series. Put a comma between three ormore items
joined by a coordinate conjunction.
Examples:
Alatangana condemned Sa for creating such a dirty
place, for bringing his family tolive in such a mess, and
for having no light and life. (prepositional phrases)
Sa explained that he cursedAlatangana, that he
punished him, and that he would claim any of his
children whenever he liked. (clauses)
Alatangana recreated Sa’s world of the following
reasons: to establish light in it, to put order in it, and to
make it more livable. (infinitives)
Use parallel structure with elements being
compared.
Examples:
Sa likes living in darkness better than living in light.
b. Alatangana prefers to have a clean world rather
than to have a dirty one.

Use parallel structure with elements joined by a
linking verb or a verb of being.
Examples:
To create a vast sea of mud is to live in filth.
To be content is to be happy.
Use parallel structure with elements joined by
correlative conjunctions either..or, neither…
nor, both…and, and not only…but (also).
Examples:
Alatangana not only knows his guilt, but also
his debt to Sa.
Either Sa lives in filth or he loses his daughter.
Alatangana loved both his wife and his
children.
Neither Sa nor Alatangana could do anything
about death.
ANSWER GRAMMAR PRACTICE 1
AND 2
DEADLINE: WEDNESDAY 5PM

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PERUSE AND READ

•Reflect the social order or values of a

Feature non- human or super natural

•Tell about the foundation or the origin

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