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Name:

Lesson 1: To understand the contextual backdrop to ‘Beyond Sky and Earth’ and to demonstrate an overall understanding of the extract.

Do it now: If you were to write a travel piece about the place pictured below, what might be some of the things you might comment on?

New knowledge: who is the writer of ‘Beyond the Sky and Earth’?‘Beyond the Sky and Earth’ or ‘Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan’ is a memoir written by Jamie Zeppa of her experience working as a lecturer in English at the Sherubtse College near Trashigang in eastern Bhutan. Zeppa took up an assignment for two years.

Initially she started writing a fiction based on her experience there, but she was suggested to write it in memoir form and she took the advice. The book was first published in 1999.

The title of the book is derived from an expression of thankfulness in the Bhutanese language which means ‘I am thankful to you beyond the earth and the sky.’

Pen to paper: fiction versus memoirWhat is the difference between a fictional work and a memoir?

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New knowledge: where is the extract set?The extract is set in Bhutan.

Bhutan, a Buddhist kingdom on the Himalayas’ eastern edge, is known for its monasteries, fortresses (or dzongs) and dramatic landscapes that range from subtropical plains to steep mountains and valleys. In the High Himalayas, peaks such as 7,326m Jomolhari are popular trekking destinations. Paro Taktsang monastery (also known as Tiger’s Nest) clings to cliffs above the forested Paro Valley.

New knowledge: ‘Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan’Let’s read the memoir ‘Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan.’

When Zeppa was 24 years old she left Canada to teach in Bhutan. Thismemoir grew out of an essay she wrote about her early days in the country.

1 Mountains all around, climbing up to peaks, rolling into valleys, again and 2 again. Bhutan is all and only mountains. I know the technical explanation3 for the landscape, landmass meeting landmass, the Indian subcontinent 4 colliding into Asia thirty or forty million years ago, but I cannot imagine it. It5 is easier to picture a giant child gathering earth in great armfuls, piling up 6 rock, pinching mud into ridges and sharp peaks, knuckling out little valleys7 and gorges, poking holes for water to fall through.

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8 It is my first night in Thimphu, the capital, a ninety-minute drive from the 9 airport in Paro. It took five different flights over four days to get here, from10 Toronto to Montreal to Amsterdam to New Delhi to Calcutta to Paro. I am 11 exhausted, but I cannot sleep. From my simple, pine-paneled room at the 12 Druk Sherig hotel, I watch mountains rise to meet the moon. I used to 13 wonder what was on the other side of mountains, how the landscape 14 resolved itself beyond the immediate wall in front of you. Flying in from the15 baked-brown plains of India this morning, I found out: on the other side of 16 mountains are mountains, more mountains and mountains again. The 17 entire earth below us was a convulsion of crests and gorges and wind-18 sharpened pinnacles. Just past Everest, I caught a glimpse of the Tibetan 19 plateau, the edge of a frozen desert 4,500 meters above sea level. 20 Thimphu’s altitude is about half of that, but even here, the winter air is thin21 and dry and very cold.

22 The next morning, I share breakfast of instant coffee, powdered milk, 23 plasticky white bread and flavourless red jam in the hotel with two other24 Canadians who have signed on to teach in Bhutan for two years. Lorna has25 golden brown hair, freckles and a no-non-sense, home-on-the-farm 26 demeanour that is frequently shattered by her ringing laughter and stories27 of the wild characters that populate her life in Saskatchewan. Sasha from 28 British Columbia is slight and dark, with an impish smile. After breakfast, we 29 have a brief meeting with Gordon, the field director of the WUSC program30 in Bhutan, and then walk along the main road of Thimphu. Both Lorna and 31 Sasha have travelled extensively; Lorna trekked all over Europe and 32 Northern Africa and Sasha worked for a year in an orphanage in Bombay.33 They are both ecstatic about Bhutan so far, and I stay close to them, hoping34 to pick up some of their enthusiasm.

35 Although Thimphu’s official population is 20,000, it seems even smaller. It 36 doesn’t even have traffic lights. Blue-suited policemen stationed at two 37 intersections along the main street direct the occasional truck or landcruiser38 using incomprehensible but graceful hand gestures. The building all have39 the same pitched roofs, trefoil windows, and heavy beams painted with 40 lotus flowers, jewels and clouds. One-storied shops with wooden-shuttered41 windows open onto the street. They seem to be selling the same things:42 onions, rice, tea, milk powder, dried fish, plastic buckets and metal plates, 43 quilts and packages of stale, soft cookies from India – Bourbon Biscuits, 44 Coconut Crunchies and the hideously colored Orange Cream Biscuits. 45 There are more signs of the outside world than I had expected: teenagers in46 acid washed jeans, Willie Nelson’s greatest hits after the news in English on47 the Bhutan Broadcasting Service, a Rambo poster in a bar. Overall, these48 signs of cultural infiltration are few, but they are startling against the 49 Bhutanese-ness of everything else.

50 The town itself looks very old, with cracked sidewalks and faded paintwork, 51 but Gordon told us that it didn’t exist thirty-odd years ago. Before the 52 sixties, when the third king decided to make it the capital, it was nothing 53 but rice paddies, a few farmhouses, and a dzong – one of the fortresses54 that are scattered throughout the country. Thimphu is actually new. 55 “Thimphu will look like New York to you when you come back after a year

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56 in the east,” he said

57 At the end of the main road is Tashichho Dzong, the seat of the Royal58 Government of Bhutan, a grand, whitewashed, red-roofed, golden-tipped59 fortress, built in the traditional way, without blueprints or nails. Beyond, 60 hamlets are connected by footpaths, and terraced fields, barren now, climb61 steadily from the river and merge into the forest. Thimphu will never look62 like New York to me, I think.

63 The Bhutanese are a very handsome people, “the best build race of men I 64 ever saw,” wrote emissary George Bogle on his way to Tibet in 1774, and 65 I find I agree. Of medium height and sturdily built, they have beautiful 66 aristocratic faces with dark, almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones and 67 gentle smiles. Both men and women wear their black hair short. The68 women wear a kira, a brightly striped, ankle-length dress and the men a 69 gho, a knee-length robe that resembles a kimono, except that the top part70 is exceptionally voluminous. The Bhutanese of Nepali origin tend to be 71 taller, with sharper features and darker complexions. They too wear the 72 gho and kira. People look at us curiously, but they do not seem surprised at73 our presence. Although we see few other foreigners in town, we know 74 they are here. Gordon said something this morning about Thimphu’s small75 but friendly “ex-pat” community.

76 When we stop to ask for directions at a hotel, the young man behind the 77 counter walks with us to the street, pointing out the way, explaining politely78 in impeccable English. I search for the right word to describe the people,79 for the quality that impresses me most – dignity, unselfconsciousness, 80 good humour, grace – but can find no single word to hold all of my 81 impressions.

82 In Thimphu, we attend a week-long orientation session with twelve other83 Irish, British, Australian and New Zealand teachers new to Bhutan. Our 84 first lessons, in Bhutanese history, are the most interesting. Historical85 records show that waves of Tibetan immigrants settled in Bhutan sometime86 before the tenth century, but the area is thought to have been inhabited long87 before that. In the eighth century, the Indian saint Padmasambhava brought88 Buddhism to the area, where it absorbed many elements of Bon, the 89 indigenous shamanist religion. The new religion took hold but was not a 90 unifying force. The area remained a collection of isolated valleys, each91 ruled by its own king. When the Tibetan Iama Ngawang Namgyel arrived92 in 1616, he set about unifying the valleys under one central authority and 93 gave the country the name Druk Yul, meaning Land of the Thunder Dragon.94 Earlier names for Bhutan are just as beautiful – the Tibetans knew the 95 country as the Southern Land of Medicinal Herbs and the South 96 Sandalwood Country. Districts within Bhutan were even more felicitously-97 named: Rainbow District of Desires, Lotus Grove of the Gods, Blooming98 Valley of Luxuriant Fruits, the Land of Longing and Silver Pines. Bhutan,99 the name by which the country became known to the outside world, is100

thought to be derived from Bhotanta, meaning the “end of Tibet” or from

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the Sanskrit Bhu-uttan, meaning “highlands”.

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While the rest of Asia was being overrun by Europeans of varying hue but

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similar cry, only a handful of Westerners found their way into Bhutan. Two

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Portuguese Jesuits came to call in 1627, and six British missions paid

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brief but cordial visits from the late 1700s until the middle of the next

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century. Relations with the British took a nasty turn during the disastrous

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visit of Ashley Eden in 1863. Eden, who had gone to sort out the small

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problem of Bhutanese raids on British territory, had his back slapped, his

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hair pulled, and his face rubbed with wet dough, and was then forced to sign

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an outrageous treaty that led to a brief war between the British and the

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Bhutanese. Considering the consolidated British empire in the south, and

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the Great Game being played out in the north between the colonial powers,

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Bhutan’s preservation of its independence was remarkable. I am full of

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admiration for this small country that has managed to look after itself so

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well.

Glossary:

gorges – a gorge is a deep, narrow valley with very steep sides, usually where a river passes through mountains or an area of hard rock.

crests – the crest of a hill or a wave is the top of it.

pinnacles – a pinnacle is a pointed piece of stone or rock that is high above the ground.

trefoil – any of various related plants having leaves divided into three leaflets

infiltration – if people infiltrate a place, they enter it secretly in order to spy on it or influence it

barren – a barren landscape is dry and bare, and has very few plants and no trees

emissary – an emissary is a representative sent by one government or leader to another

voluminous – something that is voluminous is very large or contains lots of things

felicitously – if you describe a remark or idea as felicitous, you approve of it because it seems particularly suitable in the circumstances

hue – a hue is a colour

Reflection

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Earlier on in the lesson we learnt what a memoir is. Having now read this text, what evidence is there to support that this is a memoir?

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Lesson 2: To identify the perspective of the writer using relevant textual reference

Do it now: Recap questions:

1. What is a memoir?

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2. How did Zeppa end up in Bhutan?

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3. What is the translation of the title of the book in Bhutanese?

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4. What is Bhutan known for?

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Recapping prior knowledge: question 5Question 5 in the exam paper will always be on perspective and ideas.

Perspective – a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view

Ideas – a mental impression, a thought or suggestion or an opinion or belief.

In what ways are these terms similar and in what ways are they different?

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Pen to paperIn this extract, Zeppa explores five different aspects of her journey into Bhutan: the landscape, the town, her travel experiences, the people and its history. For each one, find evidence that refers to these things, (identifying key techniques along the way). Also consider what we can infer from the evidence in terms of how it presents her ideas about what she is seeing.

Perspective / Idea

Evidence(underline or highlight particular techniques)

Inference

Landscape

Town

Travel experiences

People

History8

ReflectionHaving considered each of these, which one do you think Zeppa is most impressed by and why?

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Lesson 3: To consider how the writer’s use of language helps to convey particular tones throughout the memoir

Do it now: What did we learn last lesson about each of the following?

Recapping prior knowledge / pen to paper: identifying key reflectionsEach of the quotations below have been taken from the extract. Your first task is to sequence them into the right order.

Although Thimphu’s official population is 20,000, it seems even smaller. It doesn’t even have traffic lights.Thimpu will never look like New York to me, I think.

I share breakfast of instant coffee, powdered milk, plasticky white bread and flavourless jam.

I am full of admiration for this small country that has managed to look after itself so well.

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Bhutan

Landscape Town

People

History

Travel experiences

Our first lessons, in Bhutanese history, are the most interesting.

Thimpu is actually new. “Thimpu will look like New York to you when you come back after a year in the east,” he said.It took five different flights over four days to get here…I am exhausted, but I cannot sleep.Thimphu’s altitude is about half of that, but even here, the winter air is thin and dry and very cold.Overall, these signs of cultural infiltration are few, but they are startling against the Bhutanese-ness of everything else.They are both ecstatic about Bhutan so far, and I stay close to them, hoping to pick up some of their enthusiasm.Earlier names for Bhutan are just as beautiful.

The Bhutanese are a very handsome people, “the best built race of men I ever saw,” wrote emissary George Bogle on his way to Tibet in 1774, and I find I agree.I search for the right word to describe the people, for the quality that impresses me most – dignity, unselfconsciousness, good humor, grace – but can find no single word to hold all of my impressions.Flying in from the baked-brown plains of India this morning, I found out: on the other side of mountains are mountains, more mountains and mountains again.Considering the consolidated British empire in the south, and the Great Game being played out in the north between the colonial powers, Bhutan’s preservation of its independence was remarkable.There are more signs of the outside world than I had expected…

Pen to paper: how does the tone shift across the extract?Now having sequenced these extracts, what do you notice about the tone at the start, in the middle and towards the end?

At the start of the extract…

In the middle…

Towards the end…

Recapping prior knowledge: What? How? Why?Look at the WHAT? HOW? WHY? paragraph I have constructed to describe the tone at the start of the extract. Can you identify where the what? How? Why? is evident?

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At the start of the extract, the tone appears more negative and judgemental upon the arrival of

Zeppa into Bhutan. This is evident when she states ‘Bhutan is all and only mountains’, ‘the winter

air is thin and dry and very cold’ and ‘I share breakfast of instant coffee, powdered milk…’ The

use of the adjective ‘only’ to describe the mountainous area implies that to her there appears very

little else in terms of what Bhutan has to offer. As someone coming over to live, the use of this

adjective might help to express her disappointment at there being very little to do. The adjectives

‘dry’ and ‘cold’ to describe the air suggest her immediate physical reaction to the environment and

may indicate that she is not used to being in this type of climate. The adjectives draw up negative

connotations as a lack of warmth is suggested. Finally, the use of the adjectives ‘instant’ and

‘powdered’ to describe the components of breakfast suggest a lack of quality which she may not

be used to and her disappointment with this.

Pen to paper: co-constructing a What? How? Why?How has the tone shifted by the end of the extract?

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Now, as a group table, in your exercise book, co-construct a What? How? Why? paragraph exploring the tone created by the writer at the end of the extract.

Remember

WHAT? What tone is created?(Clear topic sentence)

HOW? How is this tone conveyed?(Evidence)

WHY? What can we infer from this evidence about how the writer is responding to this situation?(Inference and analysis)

ReflectionIn this extract, we see a very tired writer arrive in a country that is unfamiliar to her. Initially, her reactions and responses are quite negative but over time she begins to find the place endearing and by the end reveals a true appreciation for the country.

What do we learn from this about judging people or places before we have actually got to know them?

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Homework: Language across the extract

Find examples of the following and comment upon their effect.

Technique Definition of technique Example EffectCompound adjective

When two words are joined together to form a new one. For example: baked-brown.

Simile A comparison between two things using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Metaphor A comparison between two unrelated things using the words ‘is’ or ‘was’.

Personification Giving an object human qualities.

Pun A play on words especially with regard to the meaning. Usually there is a double

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meaning.

Bathos When a writer inserts silly, humorous or absurd details in an effort to be witty.

Lesson 4: To analyse how structural techniques have been used to support the writer’s perspective

Do it now: Use the graphic below to summarise the journey Zeppa makes both physically and emotionally.

Physical Emotional

New knowledge / pen to paper: features of formThe extract we have been reading over the past few lessons is a memoir. But what are some of the features that make it a memoir and can you find examples within this text?

Feature of form Example Why might this be useful in a memoir?

First person

Chronological

Present tense

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Temporal markers

Direct speech or quotations from trusted sources

Mixture of styles (see below):

Narrative (the author’s story)

Information (on history, geography, and Bhutanese life)

Comment (the writer’s opinions and reflections on her experience)

New knowledge: other structural devicesTwo new structural devices that are used within this extract are

Polysyndeton – where conjunctions (e.g. and, but, or, so) are used repeatedly in quick succession

Asyndeton – where conjunctions are omitted in a series of words, phrases, or clauses with the intention of shortening the sentence.

Pen to paperCan you find an example of each as well as an example of a short sentence and a multi-clause sentence (that does not employ polysyndeton and asyndeton). Remember to comment upon the effect and how it supports Zeppa in communicating her ideas and perspective on Bhutan.

Technique Example EffectPolysyndeton

Asyndeton

Short sentence

Multi-clause sentence

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ReflectionWhich structural technique or feature of form do you think has been most useful in helping Zeppa to convey her ideas about Bhutan?

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Reading assessment: How does Zeppa present her ideas and perspective about her experience?

Introduction: 1x sentence summarising the following: The title of the extract The author of the extract The focus of the extract

Perspectives and ideas

What person is this extract written in?

What perspective / ideas are evident?How are these perspectives / ideas demonstrated?

WHAT?How does Zeppa organise her ideas about Bhutan in this extract?

Clear topic sentence: Zeppa shares her ideas about the landscape upon her arrival into Bhutan / Zeppa reflects upon her travel experiences / Zeppa recalls her impressions of Thimphu / Zeppa divulges her thoughts upon the Bhutanese people / Zeppa summarises what she has learnt about the history of Bhutan

HOW?How are these ideas shown?

What evidence do you have?

Higher grades: Short, concise

quotations Quotations from

across the text

WHY?Why does this evidence help Zeppa to convey her ideas?

Analysis and inference:

Suggests / implies / infers / connotes / demonstrates etc

Language and tone

What is the tone at the start of the extract?What is the tone in the middle of the extract?What is the tone at the end of the extract?

WHAT?What tone is created throughout the extract?

Clear topic sentence:At the start of the extract, Zeppa…/In the middle of the extract, / Towards the end of the extract

HOW?How is this tone created?

What evidence do you have?

Higher grades: Short, concise

quotations Quotations from

across the text

WHY?Why does this evidence help to create a particular tone and why does it support Zeppa’s perspective or ideas?

Analysis and inference:

Suggests / implies / infers / connotes / demonstrates etc

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Structural techniques

What structural features has Zeppa employed across her piece and how do they help her to convey her perspective / ideas about Bhutan?

WHAT?What structural feature has Zeppa employed?

Clear topic sentence:Zeppa uses asyndeton within her writing to convey… / The use of direct speech in this extract helps Zeppa to

HOW?How are these features used?

What evidence do you have?Higher grades: Short, concise

quotationsQuotations from across the text

WHY?Why does Zeppa use this structural feature and how does it help to support her perspective?

Analysis and inference:

Suggests / implies / infers / connotes / demonstrates etc

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