Author's Argument: Death of A Salesman (1949) by Arthur Miller

Précis

In Arthur Miller’s play Death of Salesman (1949) he examines what it truly means to be successful, to be happy, and to live the “American Dream”. The play is centered around Willy Loman, a salesman who reflects on his life in order to discover where he made the mistake that caused his sons Biff and Happy to end up lost and ultimately why he isn’t successful. Miller illustrates Willy as a frail old man disappointed with the current state of his life. In other words, Willy envisioned the American dream. A successful well-paying job, a beautiful home with an equally beautiful garden, a wife who takes care of him  and his family without a care in the world, two successful sons with families of their own that respect and admire their father. Willy ultimately lost sight of reality and became delusional as he attempted to discover where exactly he made a wrong turn. The author questions what success really means and depicts the grand “American Dream” as unrealistic with a critical tone, as he describes Willy Lomans life. Miller shifts from the past to the present taking his audience inside the mind of the mentally unstable Willy Loman. Miller’s purpose is to assess the validity of the American Dream and to reveal to his very broad audience that includes anyone who questions who they are or the purpose of life itself, that life is a struggle, no family is perfect, and that success is in the eye of the beholder.  

Vocabulary

• Wilting- become weak due to lack of something or changes in environment; lose one’s energy or vigor
• Trepidation- a feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen
• Imbue- inspire with a feeling or quality
• Valises- a small traveling bag or suitcase
• Remiss- lacking care or attention to duty; negligent
• Bashful- reluctant to draw attention to one’s self; shy
• Indignantly- feeling characterized by or expressing strong displeasure towards something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, etc.
• Simonizing- to shine or polish to high sheen
• Chamois- an agile goat-antelope with short hooked horns, found in mountainous areas of Europe from Spain to the Caucasus; soft pliable leather made from the skin of sheep, goats, or deer.
• Incipient- developing into a specified type or role;  in an intial stage, beginning to develop
• Befuddle- to confuse

Tone

Contemplative, critical, and reflective

Rhetorical strategies

Telegraphic Sentences

“Not my hand.”(103)

Syntax

(Use of hyphens to create emphasis and to illustrate a moment of hesitation or emotion)

“The only way. Everything is gonna be---go on, kid, get to bed.”(107)

Metaphors

“The world is an oyster, but you don’t crack it open on a mattress!”(28)

Rhetorical Questions

(As a figure of speech within the play not as a rhetorical device by the author)

“Can’t you understand that?”(106)

Symbolism

“A diamond is rough and hard to the touch.”(107)

Allusions

“That’s why I thank Almighty God you’re both built like Adonises.”(21)

Questions

• To what extent is Willy’s absent father to blame for Willy’s mistakes?
• Why did Miller choose to alternate in between past and present? Why not just start from the past and work to the present?
• What truly determines whether your just “nothing” or successful in life?

Quotation

“The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy.”(107)

Author's Argument 3 : The Lost City of Z by David Grann Chapters 18- 25

Précis

In David Grann’s book The Lost City of Z (2010) chapters 18-25, he continues to describe Fawcett’s journey to track down the City of Z but he focuses on the extent in which things like obsession and fear control peoples lives . Grann first describes how Fawcett risked everything for this last journey with a short story on the economic turmoil he faced; he then describes how Fawcett’s family and the public felt about his disappearance with a narrative; to conclude the author describes his own journey in which he found the remains of “Z”.  At the end of his journey, Grann realized that the lost city many described as a mere “illusion” actually did exist, but it wasn’t as lavish as Fawcett expected. His purpose is to illustrate the extent in which Fawcett’s obsession controlled his life and to critique human tendencies as a whole. He seems to have a general audience in mind because his informative and objective tone suggests that anyone who enjoys a nerve-raking adventure would like his book

Vocabulary

·        Unimpeachable –  above suspicion ; impossible to discredit

·        Awash – covered or tossed about with water

·        Autonomous – self-governing ; independent

·        Epitaph – a brief prose in memory of the deceased

·        Obliterated – to remove or destroy all traces of

·        Insulate – to cover in order to reduce the passage, transfer, or leakage of heat, etc. electricity ; segregate

·        Edict – any authoritative command or decree

·        Pointillist – a theory and technique developed by the neo-impressionists, based on the principle that juxtaposed dots of pure color, as blue and yellow, are optically mixed into the resulting hue, as green, by the viewer.

·        Relic – surviving trace of something or someone

·        Dissipate – to scatter in various directions

Tone

 Informative, Objective, Suspenseful

Rhetorical Strategies

Syntax

(Use of hyphens for clarification and insert commentary)

“Brooding day and night, Fawcett hatched various half-baked schemes—to mine nitrate in Brazil, to prospect for oil in California --- in order tp raise money for his expedition.”(213)

Listing

“…and began cheerfully to load our gear, which included hammocks, rope, mosquito netting, water-purifying tablets, a satellite phone, antibiotics, and malaria pills.” (247)

Dialogue

“Nineteen twenty five,” I said.”

“And you want to find him in the jungle?” (246)

Imagery

“Lightening streaked the sky and a thin mist descended, making the ground more slippery.” (248)

Description

“He wore a camouflage vest with myriad pockets, stuffed with supplies: a Swiss Army knife, a Japanese anti-itch medicine, a flashlight …” (222)

Questions

• Why did Raleigh feel like an outsider while he was with his best friend Jack in the jungle?
• Why did Grann decide to include the oral history from the Kalapo people when he did a fine job of summarizing it?
• To what extent do humans allow their emotions to dictate their lives?

Quotation

“Our search for Fawcett and the City of Z suddenly felt trivial --- another tribe appeared to be on the verge of extinction” (288)

Author's Argument : The Lost City of Z by David Grann Section 2

Précis

In David Grann’s book The Lost City of Z (2010) chapters 10-17, he continues to describe Fawcett’s journey as an explorer but he focuses on Fawcett’s reasoning for locating the lost city. Grann first depicts Fawcett as an explorer obsessed with the thrill of adventure despite his longing to be ordinary with an narrative about his adventures; he then compares Fawcett’s research of the lost city to his own with an anecdote and a description of Fawcett's research; the author also uses anecdotes to describe how much the lost city of Z consumed Fawcett’s life even in the midst of a war. His purpose is to illustrate the extent in which Fawcett’s obsession controls his actions. He seems to have a broad audience in mind because his informative tone suggests that anyone who enjoys a suspense-filled adventure would take pleasure in his book

Vocabulary

• Edict – a formal or authoritative command
• Robust – requiring great physical strength
• Incited – encourage violent behavior
• Gesticulated – to use dramatic gestures rather than speak
• Incensed – to make very angry
• Precarious – dependent on chance; uncertain
• Incessantly – endlessly
• Pernicious – having harmful effect
• Malice – intention to do evil
• Guile – sly or cunning intelligence
• Contemptuous – scornful
• Imperviousness – no penetrable
• Parlance – particular way of speaking
• Indignant – feeling angry due to unfair treatment

Tone

 Informative, Objective

Rhetorical Strategies

Syntax

(Use of hyphens for clarification and insert commentary)

“Brian was different from his older brother—indeed, different from most Fawcett men.”(193)

Repetition

“…he noticed something sticking out of the ground. He started to scour the soil. Virtually everywhere he scratched, he later informed the RGS, he turned up bits of ancient, brittle pottery. He thought the craftsmanship…” (162)

Telegraphic Sentences

“Something was amiss.” (159)

Imagery

“ I was escorted upstairs into the manuscript division, a chamber lined with books that climbed several stories toward a stained-glass ceiling, where a faint light seeped through, revealing, amid the room’s grandeur, a hint of disrepair-dilapidated wooden desks and dusty light bulbs.” (178-179)

Allusion

“Apparently, it was the Holy Grail for the Fawcett freaks.”(179)

Questions

• Why did Fawcett suddenly feel like Holt as a spy for Dr .Rice towards the end of chapter 17?
• Why did Grann decide to insert thirty-two images in-between pages 116 and 117?
• To what extent does obsession control one’s life, i.e. is there any limitations to what one will endure to satisfy one’s obsession?

Quotation

“Yet Fawcett could never find his way out of what the historian Dane Kennedy has called the “mental maze of race.”(158)

Author's Argument: The Lost City of Z by David Grann, Section 1

Précis

              In David Grann’s book The Lost City of Z (2010) chapters 1-9, he describes Percy Harrison Fawcett’s (a famous explorer who went missing in the Amazon in search of an uncharted kingdom) life. Grann first describes some of Fawcett’s past explorations with quotations from Fawcett’s own journal; he then presents insight on why Fawcett decided to venture off into the Amazon by providing anecdotes; the author continues to divulge into the general obsessive nature of human beings by describing his own preparations to set out and trace Percy’s journey into the Amazon. His purpose is to decipher the extent in which obsession and curiosity drives human actions. He seems to have a broad audience in mind because his contemplative tone suggests that anyone intrigued by either human nature or the mystery of the Amazon would enjoy his book.

Vocabulary

• Garrison (n.) - the troops stationed in a fortress or town to defend it
• Luminaries (n.) - a person who inspires or influences others
• Innocuous (adj.) - not harmful or offensive
• Staunchest (adj.) - to be loyal and committed in attitude
• Meticulous (adj.) - very careful and precise
• Pungent (adj.) - having sharp quality
• Fledgling (n.) - a person or organization that is inexperienced
• Tantalizing (v.) – to excite the senses or desires of someone
• Celestial (adj.) - pertaining to the sky or visible heaven
• Orifices (n.) – a vagina or an anus

Tone

 Contemplative, critical, and forthright

Rhetorical Strategies

Imagery

“She was a petite, energetic woman in her fifties, with short black hair and glasses…” (101)

Telegraphic Sentence

“It was the perfect cover.” (80)

Dialogue

“You can’t just go like that,” my wife said.” (75)

Listing

“ a tool that was a digital thermometer, a flashlight, a magnifying glass, and a whistle; compression sacks that shrank everything inside; Swiss Army knives with a computer flash drive to store photographs and music; water purifying bottles that doubled as lanterns; portable…” (78-79)

Colloquial

“shit happens.”(29)

Simile

“Occasionally, Fawcett and Chivers came upon a footbridge—string together with palmetto slats and cables- that stretched more than a hundred yards over a gorge and swung wildly in the win, like a shredded flag.” (86)

Discussion Questions

Why did the author chose to arrange the book the way he did, i.e. one chapter about Fawcett followed by a chapter on Grann’s own journey/ preparations?

 How does Fawcett’s reasoning for exploring the Amazon illustrate the toll obsession

can take on one’s life?

How detrimental is obsession to one’s life?

Quotation

“…ordinary people driven to do extraordinary things---things that most of us would never dare--- who get some germ of an idea in their heads that metastasizes until it consumes them.”(32)