Comparing Poetry

Directions: Read and annotate the two poem excerpts below, then compare
and contrast them using the Venn diagram on the next page.

Cato in the Deserts of Africa

By Lucan
The heat strikes fiercer, and the winds grow less,
While parching thirst and fainting sweats increase.
As forward on the weary way they went,
Panting with drought, and all with labor spent,
Amidst the desert desolate and dry

On the Desert
By William Wetmore Story
ALL around,
To the bound
Of the vast horizons round,
All sand, sand, sand
All burning, glaring sand
On my camels hump I ride,
As he sways from side to side,
With an awkward step of pride

Cato in the Deserts of Africa

On the Desert

Reflect:
1. Which of these two poems do you believe gives a stronger
description of what it is like to travel in the desert? Use textual evidence
to support your position.
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Comparing Non-Fiction Texts

Directions: Read and annotate the two texts below, answering the
questions as you go.
1. Islamic Influence on African Societies
By the Department of Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Islamic influences on African societies increased with the trade across
the Sahara Desert. In some capital cities the presence of Muslim merchants
resulted in the establishment of mosques. The Malian king Mansa Musa
brought back from a pilgrimage to Mecca the
architect al-Sahili, who is often credited with
the creation of the Sudano-Sahelian building
style. Musa's brother, Mansa Suleyman,
followed his path and encouraged the
building of mosques, as well as the
development of Islamic learning.
Pause: How did Islamic architecture come to West Africa?
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Islam brought to Africa the art of writing and new techniques of
weighting. The city of Timbuktu, for instance, flourished as a center of
trade and learning, seemingly undisturbed by various upheavals.
Timbuktu began as a small settlement, and was soon integrated into
the Mali Empire, and then finally incorporated into the Songhai Empire. In

the sixteenth century, the majority of Muslim scholars in Timbuktu were

from Sudan.
Pause: Sudan is a country in
north-eastern Africa. How
did these scholars get from
Sudan to Timbuktu?
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For many sub-Saharan Africans, conversion to Islam was probably a

way to protect themselves against being sold into slavery, a trade that was
flourishing at that time. For their
rulers, conversion to Islam was a
somewhat formal gesture to gain
support from the Arabs and to help
increase trade. Eventually, sub-

Conversion- to change your religion

or beliefs. Many Africans converted to
Islam as a result of the Trans-Saharan
trade.

Saharan Africans developed their

own brand of Islam, often referred to as "African Islam," with specific
brotherhoods and practices.
Pause: Based on the text we just read, what does the term sub-Saharan
mean?: ____________________________________________________________
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2. Gold Trade and the Mali Empire

From the Department of Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
By 1050 A.D., Ghana was a strong kingdom. By the end of the
twelfth century, however, Ghana had lost its domination of the gold
trade. The remaining parts of what was once the Kingdom of Ghana
were conquered by Sundiata Keita, who founded the Mali Empire.
Malis rulers did not encourage gold producers to convert to Islam, since
prospecting and production of the metal traditionally depended on a
number of beliefs and magical practices that were different from Islam.
In the fourteenth century, gold and salt were the main items of longdistance trade.
Pause: What was one important cause of Ghanas fall?
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African gold was indeed so
famous worldwide that a Spanish
map of 1375 represents the king of
Mali holding a gold nugget. When
the Mali Empire was eventually
destroyed, the rising Songhai
Empire relied on the same resource.
Gold remained the principal product
in the trans-Saharan trade, followed
by kola nuts and slaves. The
Moroccan scholar Leo Africanus, who visited Songhai in 1510 and 1513,
observed that the governor of Timbuktu owned many articles of gold,
and that the coin of Timbuktu was made of gold without any stamp or
superscription.

Directions: Now review the passages by answering the questions below.

1. What is the main idea of the first text?
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2. What is the main idea of the second text?
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3. Reflect on the prompt below using evidence from both texts.
Prompt: What was the most important impact of the Trans-Saharan gold
trade? Answer using atleast 5 complete sentences.
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