Week 14:
I.
Oral Tradition in the Ancient World
Definitions
A.
oral history is ____________________________
____________________________ that is orally
passed on to the next generation
as opposed to
B.
________________________________ which is
the word of an eyewitness
1.
Essentially, oral testimony becomes oral
history _____________________________
______________________
2.
in cultures with no written language, such
information is passed from generation to
generation ___________________________
C.
Without question, most people throughout history
________________________________________
through the spoken word
D.
oral history has been the major source of
________________________________________
1.
has particular relevance in studying the
history of ___________________________
2.
____________________________________
oral tradition to preserve a record of the past
without written language
Middle School Lit/Comp Week 14
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a.
II.
________________________________
________________________________
Great example from Australia
A.
Aborigines in Australian tribes passed memories
of life __________________________________
______________________________________
1.
this is from __________________________
a.
2.
possibly up to ____________________
linguists have identified 18 separate
aboriginal stories, _____________________
____________________________________
a.
________________________________
no longer exist with consistency
between the stories
b.
describe geographical features that
________________________________
________________________________
c.
scientists have analyzed the contours of
________________________________
1.
Middle School Lit/Comp Week 14
used scientific reconstructions of
prehistoric sea levels to ________
____________________________
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2.
B.
____________________________
geological evidence!
________________________________________
without being written down?
1.
aboriginal families felt a great responsibility
____________________________________
III. Western Oral Tradition
A.
We can trace western literature back to ancient
________________________________________
B.
Epic poems were typically derived from ancient
oral tradition – ___________________________
________________________________________
1.
narrates deeds and adventures of heroic or
____________________________________
2.
____________________________________
either physical or mental or both
3.
____________________________________
word for word
1.
a poet would just remember the key
points and _______________________
_______________________________
2.
so each bard ____________________
Middle School Lit/Comp Week 14
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C.
_________________________: Ancient Sumeria
1.
Oldest work of literature _______________
a.
2.
D.
________________________________
(Golden Age of Ur – remember
Abraham?)
Epic poem of Gilgamesh’s ______________
____________________________________
______________________________ (1100s BC)
1.
Both by _____________________________
2.
____________________________________
set in Mycenaean times and refined them
3.
these are considered the ________________
____________________________________
4.
The Iliad describes the final days of the
____________________________________
a.
5.
The Iliad covers the ways in which the
Greek army tried to get within Troy’s
walls (_________________________)
The Odyssey covers the ________________
_______________________
THEN
a.
tells the story of the Greek hero,
Odysseus, and ___________________
________________________________
Middle School Lit/Comp Week 14
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