BEYOND THE SKY AND EARTH: A JOURNEY INTO BHUTAN

JAMIE ZEPPA

BACKGROUND:

Jamie Zeppa is a Canadian writer and college professor. Beyond

the Sky and Earth: A Journey into Bhutan is an autobiography that
recounts her experiences on a two-year assignment as an English
lecturer in the 1980s in the mountainous kingdom of Bhutan. It is
a memoir, but it should also be classed as travel writing. It is a
record of the culture and life of a Himalayan village and her initial
reactions and growing attachment to this remote and unexplored part of the world.

Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia and was not exposed to western influences until the second
half of the 20th century, which enabled it to retain much of its unique identity and charm. It is a country
that has been named the happiest in Asia and the eighth happiest in the world.

THEMES:

 exploring different cultures and places,

 new beginnings,
 change

GENRE:

 A recount of a personal experience

 A travelogue

AUDIENCE:

 People who like to travel to different destinations

PURPOSE:

 To reveal the culture through the eyes of a visitor

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STRUCTURE:

 This personal travel narrative begins with a description of the country’s landscape and switches
between the past tense.
 As the journey from Canada is recalled, and the present tense as Zeppa takes the reader into the
immediacy of her first night and day in Thimpu.
 There are pithy character sketches of two fellow Canadian teachers, a detailed description of the
city and a discussion of the qualities of the Bhutanese people.
 The final two paragraphs move back into the past tense as we are provided with a brief history of
Bhutan.
 The passage ends with Zeppa’s statement of “admiration” for the country.

LANGUAGE ANALYSIS:

1. Visual Images

Example: “Mountains all around, climbing up to peaks, rolling into valleys….”

Effect: To present the exotic beauty of the atmosphere, which is surrounded by mountains

2. Repetition

Example: “…rolling into valleys, again and again.”

“…on the other side of mountains are mountains, more mountains and more
mountains again.”

Effect: To emphasize on the huge number of mountains that encircled the hotel and its
suburbs.

3. Short Sentence

Example: “Bhutan is all and only mountains.”

Effect: To present her overwhelmed feelings about the mountainous country.

Example: “I am exhausted, but I cannot sleep.”

Effect: The writer is fatigued by the long journey which in contrast with the stunned feeling
with the mystic beauty of the country

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4. Exaggeration

Example: “The entire earth below us was a convulsion of crests and gorges…”

Effect: Presenting the feelings of astonishment towards the mountainous country

5. Factual Information

Example: “Just past Everest, I caught a glimpse of the Tibetan plateau… 4,500 meters above
sea level.”

Effect: The informative, factual language is used to bring out the lively description of the
country.

6. Alliteration

Example: “They seem to be selling the same things…”

Effect: Suggests the lack of novelty or variations in the life of Bhutan

7. Humour / Sarcasm

Example: “…the hideously colored Orange Cream Biscuits.”

Effect: The writer is presenting humour through the adjective “hideously” about the
extreme dye color that is used on biscuits to feel lively.

8. Lists

Example: “…from Toronto to Montreal to Amsterdam to New Delhi to Calcutta to Paro.”

Effect: Syndetic List presents the number of countries she had to travel to reach Bhutan,
providing vivid details

Example: “…onions, rice, milk powder, dried fish, plastic buckets…”

Effect: Asyndetic list provides more detail to evoke the sense of place

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9. Use of Adjectives

Example: “…a grand, whitewashed, red-roofed, golden-tipped fortress, built in the traditional
way…”

Effect: By using the asyndetic list of carefully chosen adjectives the writer evokes a sense
of place

10. Use of traditional names of Bhutan

Example: “dzong”, “kira”, “Tashichcho Dzong”

Effect: To provide a sense of belongingness by using the traditional names

EXAM-STYLE QUESTION

How does the writer use language and structure to convey her growing
fascination with Bhutan?

You should support your answer with close reference to the passage, including
brief quotations.

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