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)