Authors arguement : The Lost city of Z by David Grann

1. Precis
2.  In David Grann’s novel The Lost City of Z (2009), he tells of the Britain explorer Percy Fawcett who searches for "The Lost City of Z". He begins by informing us on his journies into the amazon which gave him experience in the jungle and sparked an interest in him on the city of Z. He then explains to us Fawcett's childhood so that the reader can know more about his character and what made him the way he was. The author’s purpose in writing the novel, seems to be to display the limitless enthusiasm one can have on something so much that they would be willling to face death. He seems to have a general audience in mind because it more about the obsession than anything and anyone can become obsessed with anything.

2. vocabulary 
3. anthropologist:one who studies origins human in comparison with animals.
4. taint: a trace of something bad, offensive or harmful.
5. amok: a psychic disturbance characterized by depression followed by a manic urge to murder.
6. subterfuge:an artifice or expedient used to evade a rule, escape a consequence.
7. impecunious: having little or no money; penniless; poor.
8. philandering: of a man to make love with a woman one cannot or will not marry; carry on flirtations.

3. Tone  The authors tone is descriptive and enthusiastic.

     4. rhetorical strategies

- monologue: " they were coming closer, and for the first time i asked myself 'what the hell am i doing here?'" (page 5)

-metonomy: "Before the Spanish Crown sent forces to stop him,...." (page 11)

-simile: "Fawcett, like many other Victorian explorers,..." (page 16)

 -Euphemism: “There were crusades against obscene literature and “masturbatory disease”,(pg.  40)

-enumeration: "and there were people: astrologers, peddlers, dhobis, jaggery sellers, goldsmiths, tom-tom beaters, and beggars." (page 42)

5. discussion questions

• when the authors speaks of tribes are they does he mean to make them appear savage-like?
• what is the authors purpose in using a vast amount of imagery?
• can obsesssion lead to death? 

 6. quotation

 "Still he didnt hesitate: 'Destiny intended me to go, so there could be no other answer?'"