Historical Essay Assignment Instructions (100 pts.) In a clear, logical essay an

Historical Essay Assignment Instructions (100 pts.)
In a clear, logical essay answer the following question.
What does Sundiata: Epic of Old Mali suggest about the history of Medieval West Africa?
This is basically a critical reasoning paper. In short, you are being asked to analyze the historical “lessons” (or historical evidence) that can be learned about West African culture as found in the pages of this story. Since the book is absurdly short you will be expected to read it in its entirety. Treat the book as a document to be critically examined. Do not write a literary analysis or a narration of the story. Stick to analyzing the tale itself and do not use secondary source material, even from the front (non-story) sections of the book itself. Doing so defeats the basic purpose of the paper.
This essay must be 750-1250 words in length, preferably in 12pt Times-New Roman font. Again, your paper can be written on a word processing program (ex. Microsoft Word) and then cut and pasted into Blackboard, linked to Blackboard, or written directly in Blackboard. I would prefer that you not connect me to a Google Doc or send me a PDF as these are difficult to grade. Reference citations should be used in whatever reference style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.) that you are familiar with.
Again, be familiar with the statement on academic dishonesty/plagiarism in your Student Handbook. If there is evidence of any academic dishonesty in this paper you will receive 0 points regardless of any extenuating circumstances. Furthermore, your actions will be reported to the University Administration and may result in additional penalties.