Much of what is learned and taught today stems from the African culture. As always many different cultures take claims for things that Africans created or long before most even thought of it. Yet in still proper credit is never given to "our" ancestors for many reasons. One being that many people do not or would not like to admit the fact that the Africans were creators and inventors of much of today's culture. Also, and most importantly, many are misinformed or just do not know. Works written in African languages and traditional oral texts went virtually unacknowledged until the late 20th century, but today they are finally receiving increased recognition.
             Many African works were not written down but passed along orally from one generation to the next through memorization and recitation. These traditional ways served many of the same purposes that written text serve. For example, entertainment, instruction, and commemoration. The existence of an oral tradition implies mentalities different from other societies who only relied on written documents. It was the responsibility of the griot a poet-historian, to tell and transmit their people's history. The oral literature includes prose, verse, and proverb; and they vary in length. The collective body of oral texts includes verbal art, oral literature, folklore, and recently orature.
             The folklore, in prose form, is usually told for nighttime entertainment. Folklore's feature humans and animals, either together or separate. They serve as social comments and instruction, while at the same time discourage antisocial behavior. The famous character in folklore is the trickster. Usually a small but witty animal that uses its' wit to protect itself against larger and more powerful animals. Examples of tricksters are Anasi a spider in the people of Ghana folklore, Ajapa a tortoise in Yoruba folklore, and Sungara a hare found in East African fo...