English Language A | From Beyond the Sky and Earth: A Journey into Bhutan, Jamie Zeppa

Welcome to Your Study Guide: Jamie Zeppa in Bhutan!

Hello! This study guide focuses on the non-fiction text "From Beyond the Sky and Earth: A Journey into Bhutan" by Jamie Zeppa. This chapter is a crucial part of your Edexcel International GCSE English Anthology.

This text is a piece of travel writing and memoir. It records Zeppa’s vivid first impressions of the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, where she travelled to work as a teacher.

We will learn how Zeppa uses language to capture her feelings of awe, isolation, and culture shock. Understanding how she writes (her structure and language techniques) is the key to achieving strong analysis marks. Don't worry if this seems tricky at first; we’ll break it down step-by-step!

1. Overview and Context

This text is an extract from Zeppa’s full memoir, Beyond the Sky and Earth, documenting her experiences teaching in Bhutan during the 1990s. Since this is non-fiction, everything described is based on real events.

The text focuses on:

• Her daunting journey (the flight and drive into the mountains).
• The extreme contrast between Bhutan and her Western home.
• Her sense of culture shock and being an outsider.

Key Geographical Context: The Setting

Bhutan is presented as:

• Isolated: A deliberately closed-off, traditional society, protected by the massive Himalayas.
• Magnificent: The landscape is overpowering and breathtaking.
• Culturally Rich: Zeppa focuses heavily on the traditional clothing (the gho and kira) and the unique architecture.

Key Takeaway: The geographical setting (the mountains) is almost a character in itself—powerful, beautiful, and intimidating.

2. Writer's Purpose and Target Audience

When analysing non-fiction, always ask: Why is the writer sharing this?

A. Writer's Primary Purposes (The 'Why')

1. To Reflect and Explore: Zeppa uses the text to process her own complex feelings. She reflects on the vastness of the cultural gap and her own vulnerability. The writing is deeply personal.

2. To Inform and Describe: She aims to introduce the reader to a place few people have seen, describing the sights, sounds, and traditions of Bhutan in great detail.

3. To Entertain: As a travel writer, she wants to engage the reader with exciting descriptions and engaging personal experiences.

B. Target Audience (The 'Who')

The primary audience is likely educated Western readers interested in travel, foreign cultures, and memoir. Because she assumes the audience knows very little about Bhutan, Zeppa provides clear explanations of local customs and terms.

Engagement Feature: She uses the first-person narrative ('I' and 'my') to establish an immediate connection with the reader, making us feel like we are sharing the journey with her.

3. Structure and Organization

The structure of the text is highly effective because it mirrors the writer's physical and emotional journey from the familiar to the completely unknown.

A. Form and Narrative Voice

The text is an extract from a memoir/travelogue, written mostly in the first person. This form allows the reader to experience the culture shock directly through the writer's immediate reactions.

B. Key Structural Techniques

1. Chronological Journey: The structure follows the flow of the physical journey: landing \(\rightarrow\) observing the mountains \(\rightarrow\) meeting the first people \(\rightarrow\) reflection on the cultural difference.

2. The Movement from External to Internal:

• Opening: Focused on the frightening, external landscape (the mountains, the flight).
• Middle/End: Shifts to Zeppa’s internal feelings—her awe, her loneliness, and her growing realisation of how isolated she is.

3. Use of Juxtaposition (Contrast): This is perhaps the most important structural tool. Zeppa constantly contrasts the modern, fast-paced West with the ancient, traditional culture of Bhutan. This contrast highlights the immense culture shock she feels.

Example: Contrasting the small, slightly disappointing airport with the breathtakingly beautiful, traditional clothes worn by the people.

Key Takeaway: The structure is designed to heighten the reader's awareness of cultural difference.

4. Detailed Language Analysis

To score high marks, you must be able to identify *how* language features create specific effects.

A. Imagery and Descriptive Language

Zeppa uses highly sensory language (appealing to sight, sound, and touch) to immerse the reader in the Bhutanese atmosphere.

• Powerful Adjectives: She uses words of great scale and magnitude when describing the mountains (e.g., "intimidating," "sheer," "massive"). This conveys the overwhelming power of nature.
• Spiritual Language: References to Buddhism and religious elements ("prayer flags," "temples") emphasise that this is a spiritual, preserved world, not a modern commercial one.

Technique Spotlight: Simile and Metaphor

Zeppa often uses similes (using 'like' or 'as') to make the unfamiliar scenery or feeling relatable:

• Example: When describing the difficulty of breathing in the altitude, she uses a simile to make the abstract feeling concrete: the air felt "like being kissed by a ghost". This creates a sense of chilliness, mystery, and vulnerability.

B. Tone and Voice

The tone is complex, shifting between:

• Awe/Wonder: Expressing deep admiration for the culture and beauty.
• Vulnerability/Apprehension: Her nervous anticipation and fear of the unknown.
• Reflective: She pauses frequently to consider the deeper meaning of what she is seeing.

Her voice is authoritative (she knows what she is writing about) yet deeply personal (sharing her deepest fears).

C. Diction (Word Choice)

1. Exotic Vocabulary: She incorporates Bhutanese words (gho, kira, dzong) directly into the text. By doing this and explaining them, she makes the language sound authentic and educational.

2. Hyperbole (Exaggeration): Sometimes Zeppa uses exaggeration to convey the sheer scale of her feelings, such as describing the mountains as "terrifying". This helps the reader understand her dramatic reaction to the environment.

D. Sentence Structure

Zeppa often uses long, compound, or complex sentences when describing the architecture or the landscape. This reflects the complexity and vastness of what she is observing, drawing out the description and emphasizing the detail.

Accessibility Tip: Remember that analysing language is about explaining the effect on the reader. If you see a descriptive adjective, ask yourself: "What does this word make me feel or imagine?"

5. Major Themes and Attitudes

Zeppa’s attitude towards Bhutan is largely positive, focused on respect and admiration, but this is always tempered by the reality of her isolation.

A. Culture Shock and Isolation

This is the most dominant theme. Zeppa is visibly and culturally different from everyone she meets. Her use of descriptions of the local people (who all wear traditional dress) highlights her own foreignness:

• She feels "conspicuous" (standing out clearly).
• The contrast in clothing symbolises the deep cultural chasm she is crossing.

B. Tradition vs. Modernity

Bhutan is presented as a place that has successfully held back the march of modern life. Zeppa clearly admires this preservation, focusing on things like the meticulously painted windows and the lack of modern advertising. This attitude suggests a slight criticism of the modern world she left behind.

C. The Power of Nature

The Himalayan landscape represents challenge and timelessness. The mountains are described as both beautiful and potentially deadly, mirroring the complexity of Zeppa’s feelings about entering this new, difficult world.

Did you know? Travel writers often use their personal journeys to offer commentary on society as a whole. Zeppa uses Bhutan’s traditionalism to make us reflect on our own modern dependence on technology and speed.

Final Study Checklist

Make sure you can define and find evidence for the following in the text:

1. Purpose: Why did Zeppa write this?
2. Juxtaposition: Where does she contrast two opposite ideas?
3. First Person Narrative: How does this make the tone more personal?
4. Imagery: Find three powerful adjectives used to describe the mountains.
5. Tone: Is the tone consistently positive, or does it shift?

Keep practising your analysis by linking the Writer’s Choice (e.g., use of simile) directly to the Effect on the Reader (e.g., creates empathy for her nervousness)! Good luck!