beyond the sky and the earth: a journey into bhutan

form

memoir

audience

travel/culture enthusiasts

bhutanese ppl

purpose

inform - by placing us (readers) there with her

author reflection

entertain

ideas

bhutan and its beauty + differences with what we might be used to

perspectives

foreign perspective - rare

lines 1-10 annotations (4)

climbing up to peaks, rolling into valleys, again and again	mountain personification repetition	first impression - significant part of landscape
easier to picture a giant child gathering earth	metaphor/image	complexity of landscape crafted perfectly
rock ridges peaks valleys gorges	semantic field mountain	stark impression mountains make on first-time visitors
from Toronto to Montreal to Amsterdam to New Delhi to Calcutta to Paro	repetition	extent + effort of journey

lines 11-20 annotations (5)

meet the moon	personify mountains	poetic description = bhutan beauty
on the other side of mountains are mountains, more mountains and mountains again	repeitition	stark impression hyperbolic imagery - take reader there
4,500m above sea level	factual	knowledge of the country she is visiting
thin and dry and very cold	polysyndetic triad	winter in Bhutan = miserable
instant powdered plasticky flavourless	semantic field - simple/cheaper things	simpler life - v diff to wt she’s used to

lines 21-40 annotations (4)

home-on-the-farm	compound adjective	light hearted tone
pitched roofs … and clouds	two triads	vivid imagery
onions, rice … Cream Biscuits	asyndetic (mostly) list	extent of range of what they sell clear image for reader
teenagers in … a bar	triad	western traits in country so far-removed = shocking

lines 41-65 annotations (4)

very old actually new	antithesis	subvert expectations + perspectives
Thimpu will look like New York to you Thimpu will never look like New York to me	parallelism absolute	juxtapose her reality/perspective w a Bhutanese one
kira gho	diff languages	image - place reader there
taller sharper darker	triad of comparatives	observant writer

lines 66-90 annotations (5)

dignity, unselfconsciousness, good humour, grace	asyndetic list	flurry of nouns that pop into the writers mind = unable to word their admiration
Irish, British, Australian and New Zealand	list	not only foreigner - quite a few
just as beautiful	comparative followed by lots of capitals	glorify Bhutan’s language (earlier was landscape)
varying hue but similar cry	juxtaposes varied + different	aligns Europeans + Bhutanese ppl
handful of Westerners	quantifier	contrasts today

lines 91-98 annotations (2)

his back slapped, his hair pulled and his face rubbed	triad of violence	bad existing tensions btw Bhutan + Britain
full of admiration		sees Bhutan as an overall nice place despite bad history or other things