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)