TOW #8 (IRB)- "The Lost City of Z" by David Grann

If you’re ever want to read something that entails both mystery and adventure, The Lost City of Z will be just what you’re looking for. I recently read The Lost City of Z by David Grann and was overwhelmed by the great story of the British explorer, Percy Fawcett. David Grann, who is an author and staff writer for the New Yorker, was intrigued by the famed explorer and his quest to find the mysterious city of gold deep within the Amazon jungle that Fawcett referred to as “Z.” Fawcett and his small team, which included his son, went missing in the Amazon on their search for Z and never returned. Dozens people have set out into the Amazon to solve the mysterious disappearance of Fawcett, and over a 100 of whom have died in the process. Grann later decides to attempt to solve the mystery himself and travels to the last place Fawcett was seen alive, a small camp in present-day Brazil named Dead Horse Camp. After weeks of hacking his way through the dense jungle and talking to local Indian tribes, Grann suspects that he found the lost city of Z that Fawcett believed existed. In fact, Michael Heckenberger, an anthropologist at the University of Florida, recently discovered the city, which local Indians named Kuhikugu. Unfortunately, Kuhikugu was nothing like the city of gold described by Fawcett and after years of searching, neither Heckenberger nor Grann succeeded in finding the remains of Fawcett and his team of explorers. Ultimately, Grann’s purpose for writing this book is to inform readers of Percy Fawcett’s many dangerous explorations and his determination to find the lost city of gold. Even though Grann’s explorations proved unsuccessful, he effectively achieves his purpose in his book with the use of descriptive imagery and diction.  When describing his own journey to Dead Horse Camp, Grann states, “Each time I thought that I had reached the end of the mangrove forest, anew swath opened up before me—the large patches of tall, damp reeds clouded with piums and mosquitoes, which ate into me” (306). Throughout the book, while Grann recounts his adventure and Fawcett’s exploration, he uses many descriptors that portray the Amazon jungle in dangerous and intimidating manner. This enhances his purpose and allows him to effectively argue that Fawcett is one of the most determined and fearless explorers to ever live. In my opinion, Grann does an excellent job of accomplishing his purpose as he explains the difficulties he and Fawcett endured using imagery and diction that gives readers a vivid image of the formidable Amazon jungle.

TOW #7 (written text)- Growing Popularity of Soccer in America

The sport of soccer, or fútbol as it's known in almost every other country, is the most popular sport in the world. Although, the same cannot be said for America. Among kids in America, soccer is the fourth most popular sport for boys and the third most popular for girls. However, over the last few years, soccer has begun to grow in the US at both the youth and professional levels. This increase in popularity is expected to be greatly accelerated due to a recent $250 million dollar deal between NBC and the English Premier League (EPL). This season, NBC plans to broadcast over 380 EPL games on multiple different channels in the US. NBC and ESPN sports analysts predict that because of the growing popularity of youth soccer, more kids and their parents will watch professional soccer that can now be easily accessed. Another reason people predict the EPL will gain popularity in the US is that England is 6 hours ahead of the east coast and 9 hours ahead of the west coast, so the games will usually be played in the morning and early afternoon in the US. At this time, there will be very few other sports shown on television, attracting more Americans. The author of this article, Patrick Rishe, did not necessarily direct his argument and predictions towards soccer fans, but towards other sports supporters and rival sports broadcasting companies, such as ESPN and FOX. To effectively support his predictions related to the growth of soccer due to NBC’s deal, Rishe refers to recent surveys and statistics that appeal to logos. The US Tennis Association surveyed “50,000 students a year, and found that soccer ranked 4th for boys (20%) and t-3rd for girls (17%) with regards to the percentage of adolescents who play a particular sport.  For boys, football (40%), basketball (40%), and baseball (24%) led the way.  For girls, the top participation sports were basketball (25%) and volleyball (23%).” Rishe then states that the percentage of youth soccer players in the US (20% for boys and 17% for girls) has increased several percentage points since 2000. This data appeals to logic and supports his idea that professional soccer will gain popularity in the US because if more kids play it, more parents will watch it. Rishe effectively communicates and supports his prediction is this article, which I believe will stand true in the next five to ten years. Soccer will certainly become more popular and may cause intense competition between the NFL, MLB, and NBA.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2013/08/18/why-the-epl-on-nbc-will-accelerate-soccers-popularity-in-the-united-states/

TOW #6 (written text)- "I Have A Dream"

Speech- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the famous “I Have A Dream” speech in front of over 250,000 people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. During one of the most difficult times in African American history, King called for the end of racism in the United States. For over 200 years, African Americans endured slavery, segregation, and inequality, and were desperate to gain their rights set forth in the Constitution. King, who was the most influential man of African American civil rights movement in the 1900’s, succeeded in creating change in America shortly after delivering the “I Have A Dream” speech. The direct audience of this speech is the thousands of supporters of the civil rights movement that gathered to March on Washington and listen to King’s speech. The extended audience includes all of America, particularly whites, and the US government. In the speech, Martin Luther King Jr.’s clearly states that his purpose is to convince African Americans that there is hope that they will one day be equal to whites. His ultimate goal is that this desire will become reality and Africans Americans will be able to live happily and peacefully among whites. In order to achieve this purpose, King enables the use of allusions and anaphora that appeal to pathos, ethos, and logos. Throughout the speech, King alludes to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bible. In his introduction, King says, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” This allusion refers to President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, who began by saying “four scores and seven years ago.” This allusion not only appeals to ethos because it proves King is intelligent and well-versed in history, but also adds meaning to the speech because the Gettysburg Address also dealt with civil rights. Lincoln, who supported African Americans, signed the Emancipation Proclamation the same year he gave the Gettysburg Address, which put an end to slavery in the United States. In addition to allusions, anaphora plays a large role in King’s speech. King repeatedly says, “I have a dream,” in order to achieve his purpose. He uses this phrase to list the many things he hopes will happen due to the civil rights movement, leading to the equality of whites and blacks. This repetition effectively appeals to the emotions of readers as it makes both whites and blacks feel ashamed of the country they live in that is full of racism. Together, I feel that these rhetorical strategies along with the many others used by Martin Luther King Jr. allow his to accomplish his purpose of creating equality. History has shown the speech was successful because not long after, African Americans finally gained the civil rights they deserved.

TOW #5 (Visual Text)- Government Shutdown Political Cartoon

Source- cagle.com

In the wake of the government shutdown, this political cartoon was produced to display the major dispute currently taking place in Congress between Democrats and Republicans. In the cartoon, a large elephant that symbolizes the Republican Party is blocking an Obama Care ambulance from passing on a road. The Democratic Party, represented by the ambulance, supports the new health care plan developed by President Obama. Although, Republicans bitterly oppose this new plan because it will increase the national debt, which is at about $17 trillion. Behind the two political parties, there is a pile-up of civilian cars that are affected by the ongoing argument due to the government shutdown. For thirteen days, the federal government has been out of action, affecting the lives of each American citizen. This political cartoon is not only directed towards the American people, but to Congress, in attempt to create a resolution to this problem. The overall purpose of the cartoon is to convince readers that the two-week government shutdown is ridiculous and embarrassing that Republicans and Democrats cannot reach a compromise. The makers of cartoon display this purpose through the use of humorous satire and pictorial representation. The representations of the political parties using an elephant and an ambulance driven by Barack Obama put humor into this serious predicament in order to appeal pathos. The goal of the author is to get the reader to laugh at the fat elephant sitting in the middle of the road, causing the Democrats to crash. It then draws their attention toward the problems it is creating for the other drivers. In my opinion, the cartoon does a great job of portraying the different players that play a role in this debate. Not only are both parties and President Obama accounted for in the image, but also the inclusion of the American people is important because they are the ones that are most affected by this situation.

TOW #4 (IRB)- The Lost City of Z

Written by David Grann

In the book, The Lost City of Z, David Grann tells the magnificent story of the early 1900’s British explorer, Percy Fawcett. As a young man, Percy Fawcett left his military post in the British colony of Ceylon in order to pursue his dream of exploring uncharted territories across the world. In 1925, Percy and his son Jack set out to find a fabled Native American civilization nicknamed “Z” deep with the Amazon jungle. Percy was well established as one of the top explorers in the world, but shortly after the beginning of his journey to find Z, they went missing and were never found. In 2005, journalist David Grann set out to solve the mystery behind Fawcett’s disappearance. After conducting thorough research in London at the Royal Geographers Society and the home of Fawcett’s only daughter, Grann analyzes the life of the great explorer and eventually travels to Brazil to begin his search for Percy Fawcett and his son. Grann directs this excellent nonfiction piece towards adventurous people that love exploring the outdoors as he describes Fawcett’s grueling journeys through the dense jungle with little food and supplies.  Another immediate audience for this book is geographers and historians interested in Percy Fawcett’s travels and his mysterious disappearance. After conducting research on his life, Grann informs and convinces readers that Percy Fawcett possessed incredible determination and a natural gift for exploration that made him invincible in the treacherous Amazonian jungle. Grann effectively communicates this purpose by using vivid imagery and similes while depicting Fawcett’s many journeys. During a long expedition in Bolivia in 1910, Grann described the group of explorers as, “Starving, wet, feverish, pocked with mosquito bites, the party began to eat itself from within, like maggots corkscrewing through Murray’s body,” meanwhile, Fawcett “Seemed unmolested. He discovered one or two maggots beneath his skin…. but he did not poison them, and the wounds caused by their burrowing remained uninfected” (135). This descriptive language and simile stands out to readers and appeals to pathos. Readers are affected emotionally as they hear these terrible circumstances during the expeditions, and come to realize Percy Fawcett’s great strength and invincibility in the Amazon. In my opinion, this description not only affectively communicated its purpose by appealing to pathos, but it also appeals to ethos. The thorough descriptions prove that David Grann has put in the research in order to create an accurate story, which helps communicate his purpose to the reader.

Source- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/4734059/The-Lost-City-of-Z.html

The last photograph of Percy Fawcett in the Amazon Jungle taken shortly before his disappearance in 1925.