1. GENRE STUDY:
TRAVEL WRITING

2. What do you see?
Ask students what they see in the image. Where kind of text would this photo be for and why? What so you notice about the people/the weather/the landscape behind? Where is this and how do you know?

3. What colours are here and why are they effect in creating an atmosphere? What could the rocks in the background be symbolic of? How is pathetic fallacy used? Why three building/houses? Why the many different routes leading to the house?
Is this enticing?

4. Are you judging?
What can we say about the men shaving and being shaved? Why the lack of colour? Why ahs the photographer chosen to “frame” the image in this way?

5. IF EACH OF THSE IMAGES FEATURED IN A “TRAVEL WRITING” MAGAZINE,
NOTE: THERE ARE
DIFFERENT KINDS
OF TRAVEL WRITING
Link the three texts together in any way- the use of mountains in two, the relationship between the people, the colours and symbolism, the conclusions we can draw about society and interaction, who is free, what could you say about economics/wealth etc?
IF EACH OF THSE IMAGES FEATURED
IN A “TRAVEL WRITING” MAGAZINE,
WHAT CONNECTIONS/DIFFERENCES
WOULD YOU MAKE AND WHY?

6. All 3 would be categorised under the travel genre, but what
makes them so different?
Students are to tell me what the purpose, form and audience would be for each text and why they are all travel writing. User the table provided.

7. This is the form we are studying, but even this is complex and can be
divided into sub-genres
Emphasise the final style of writing- personal, modern writing, enabled by increase in travel and wanting to “see” the world, opinionated, blinded (?), yellow brick road etc

8. Make sure you have read
“Bye Bye Natalia”.
You must keep on top
of the reading

9. Do you agree?
The ease of travel has greatly expanded the walls of our species’ Petrie dish, but has only infrequently raised levels of wisdom commensurate with these boundaries.  The obese dullard that is your neighbor, for example, has probably been to Singapore, blissfully unaware that the bones of Second World War POWs at Changi Prison lie compressed under the tarmac at the city’s international airport.  Likewise, the modern globe-trotter pokes his nose curiously amid the chambers and tunnels of the Great Pyramid, clad in biker shorts, wondering how all those great stones fell into place so precisely.
Do you agree and why?

10. What is your response to this image?

11. 1.  The first type of travel writing is the direct, straight-forward “travel guide” intended as a practical aid to travelers.  The journey is described in a linear fashion, with specific dates, places, environments, and experiences faithfully related.
2.  The second type of travel book is what I would call the “historico-geographical” tour type of book. The historico-geographical guide describes different cities and geographic regions, and relates historical anecdotes, regional stories, and other such interesting trivia for the reader.
3.  The third type of travel book is the “personal discovery” type of account.  The author visits a certain place, or makes some sort of journey, and in the process makes profound observations about himself or his locale.  The goal here is not so much to impart information about the placed traveled in; the goal is to explore deeper psychological or moral themes.
Discuss the three kinds of writing and would you add anything to this?

12. HOW EACH TEXT IS WRITTEN. LOOK FOR: LAYOUT DEVICES USED
AS WE READ, MAKE NOTES ON
HOW EACH TEXT IS WRITTEN.
LOOK FOR:
LAYOUT
DEVICES USED
WHO IS NARRATING
WHAT IS BEING DESCRIBED
OR WHAT DO WE LEARN
WHAT IS THE WRITER
TRYING TO ACHIEVE
Click on each link and spend a lesson reading each style of writing for “backpackers”- which do you prefer and why? What observations can you make about style/content/purpose/narrative voice/audience etc.

13. Your assignment…. 1500 word essay Reading and comparing two texts:
Granta is a collection of writing all to do
with travel, places and cultural experiences.
We will study 4 together in class and
you can read, analyse and refer to
more from the collection.
Bryson’s book- a travel autobiography
/a memoir/a guide
EXAM SPEAK:
  apply concepts and methods from integrated linguistic and literary study, using associated terminology and coherent written expression
  show understanding of the ways in which texts relate to each other and to the contexts in which they are produced and received
  analyse the ways in which meanings are shaped

14. Each will have a copy and as part of your drafting you will be expected to mark your own work and seek to improve.

15.
We need to work out way through these and learn from the glossary of terms, applying linguistic knowledge as we go.

16. Use the checklist as you go
Each student has a copy and this is compulsory prior to handing in the assignment.

17. Bye Bye Natalia
Work through these questions in small groups then feedback to the class.
It requires close analysis.
The opening image evokes what feelings or thoughts- “trapped in a dingy, airless
Internet café, Natalia picks at the frayed black lace of her dress…”
What do you notice about the narrative voice and why is this unusual for travel
writing?
“She should be more tolerant. There is a lot at stake”- what does this indicate about
Natalia and why is this effective?
In paragraph 2, we have a tiny glimpse of two worlds- what is the purpose here?
“Natalia looks at the clock……Not many.” HOW is a sense of place created in this
paragraph?
The repetition of the pronoun “she” on page 48 hints at an important issue in this
text- the treatment of women. What do you think the author’s opinions on this are?
What do we learn about Bob in the image “loneliness radiates from him…” and
through his correspondence? Why would the author choose to use an
conversation as the root of the story?
There are grammatical and spelling errors in Bob’s s- why?
What kind of a PLACE does Bob come from and how do you know?

18. 10. We are slowly learning about Natalia’s reality- what could “Bye Bye Natalia” be a symbol of?
11. “Outside it’s a brilliant sunshiny day. Odessa is living up to its tourist- brochure image…”. What is the PURPOSE of this travel text and why might it be different from others?
12. When Natalia describes her job her tone is sarcastic and political- how and why?
13. Why does the author (through Natalia’s eyes) keep referring to the men playing computer games in the internet café?
14. We learn about Natalia’s and Bob’s view on relationships – would you say the purpose of this text is to challenge a stereotype (prove your response)?
When visiting Sasha we are given an insight into the poverty in Ukraine- why would this come after mentioning tourists?
Natalia’s conversation with Rene induces a terrible sympathy- how does the writer do this?
“There are some days when Natalia feels that every decision she makes is wrong…..” this paragraph uses literal travel/movement to build a sense of helpless frustration. How and why?
Natalia cannot respond to Bob after hearing he likes Bruce Springstein. Why is this?
How does the story end?

19. Speech analysis
Look at the photocopied speech between Natalia and her brother Sasha (page 56-57).
Analyse the following:
semantic fields- what kinds of words could you group together and why?
The use of cliched phrases
The tone of voice
The use of questioning
Turn-taking: does the conversation logically progress?
Implied attitudes

20. Look again at the conversation. If this was a transcript, how would
the following features be applied ?
Key for transcripts
(.) micropause
(2) timed pause (in seconds)
{laughter} paralinguistic features
Me emphatic stress
cláims raised intonation
raised pitch
lowered pitch
GOOD increased volume
accel speech that is getting faster (underlined)

21. Bill Bryson….and why he is different.
Read this together and
make notes on
what kind of a writer
Bryson is and why he is
famous.

22. genre conventions, style, tone…
Travelogue-
what do you find interesting about the word?
Along with success came some element of “resentment” from established travel writers who objected that Bryson apparently wasn’t taking the genre as seriously as he ought to.- do you agree that travel writing should be serious?
book that best represents England
.- is this his purpose?
progressed from an observer of life in Britain to an active participant via a series of public roles- does this impact his writing?
“unhesitatingly took the piss, the book was unquestionably fond of Britain and the new book will be the same. Not that I don’t find things to complain about.” – is this contradictory to the purpose?
You must be critically
thinking about
purpose, audience,
genre conventions, style, tone…

23. sympathy from his audience here- how?
Prologue: How and why is Bryson mimicking a stereotypical British style?
How does his sentence construction indicate an attempted humour and cynicism?
Bryson’s first visit to England involves falling asleep on a bench. He tries to invoke
sympathy from his audience here- how?
Look closely at his descriptive language – “abrupt bellow” “narrow” “wretched”
“bathed in that pre milky dawn” “wheeled” “vast” “regally” “booming moan”
“irksome gulls”. What kind of an atmosphere is he creating?
Can you compare Bryson in any way to “Rough guides” to travel?
Identify examples of exaggeration and parenthesis- why are these used?
Read he prologue and discuss the questions.

24. What would we say about: Discourse markers used
Relationship with audience
His attitude towards travel/culture
It would be, in short, one of the most extraordinary years in modern British history. Of course, I didn't know this on that drizzly March morning in Dover. I didn't know anything really, which is a strangely wonderful position to be in. Everything that lay before me was new and mysterious and exciting in a way you can't imagine. England was full of words I'd never heard before ­ streaky bacon, short back and sides, Belisha beacon, serviettes, high tea, ice­cream cornet. I didn't know how to pronounce 'scone' or 'pasty' or 'Towcester' or 'Slough'. I had never heard of Tesco's, Perthshire or Denbighshire, council houses, Morecambe and Wise, railway cuttings, Christmas crackers, bank holidays, seaside rock, milk floats, trunk calls, Scotch eggs, Morris Minors and Poppy Day. For all I knew, when a car had an L­plate on the back of it, it indicated that it was being driven by a leper. I didn't have the faintest idea what GPO, LBW, GLC or OAP stood for. I was positively radiant with ignorance. The simplest transactions were a mystery to me. I saw a man in a newsagent's ask for 'twenty Number Six' and receive cigarettes, and presumed for a long time afterwards that everything was ordered by number in a newsagent's, like in a Chinese takeaway. I sat for half an hour in a pub before I realized that you had to fetch your own order, then tried the same thing in a tea­room and was told to sit down.
The tea­room lady called me love. All the shop ladies called me love and most of the men called me mate. I hadn't been here twelve hours and already they loved me. And everyone ate the way I did. This was truly exciting. For years I'd been the despair of my mother because as a left­hander I politely declined to eat the American way
­ grasping the fork in your left hand to steady the food whilecutting, then transferring it to your right hand to lift the food to your mouth. It all seemed ridiculously cumbersome, and here suddenly was a whole country that ate the way I did. And they drove on the left! This was paradise. Before the day was half over, I knew that this was where I wanted to be.

25. Compare Bye Bye Natalia to the Prologue of Bryson so far.

26. Sees America as an escape from the inequality of Ukraine
Sees America as an escape from the inequality of Ukraine. A dream life- freedom of choice- “properly functioning hospitals and reliably available medicines”. But is this just a “Fairy talke”? Natalia loves songs that have symbolism of freedom- “Over the abyss my flight”. She notes the ignorance of Bob who wants to “take a bold step into the unknown” and is “ready to learn about foreign cultures and things”.
Sarcastically refers to “The American Way” discussing eating etiquette, the cornflakes that come from America.

27. How To Fly

28. Travel for Burnside is….
Travel for Natalia is….
Travel for Bryson is….
Travel for Burnside is….

29. Why does Burnside use History- his own and that of aviation- frequently?
Why is there a semantic/lexical field of religion used?
Travel/flight induces fear – not travel for the tourists who sit in luxury on a plane “To buy a ticket on an aeroplane wasn’t flying…”. Why is he making the distinction?
“my family weren’t the kind of people who could afford to travel…”- what is his implied opinion here?
What is his tone of voice in this text?
Look at his descriptive language “perilously fragile” “innocently priced” “tattered” “jumble sale” – what kind of an atmosphere is he creating?
What does he believe a travelogue is (pg 109) and what is his attitude towards it?
We begin to realise that for Burnside, travel is in his mind, escaping from the people around him. Prove this and how might this compare to Bye Bye Natalia?
How does the text end?

30. Read chapters 1 and 2 of “Notes…”
Purpose of travel writing here?
Comment on the narrative voice
What is the tone?
What imagery is evoked?
What is the pace of the writing?
How are the audience drawn in?
What opinions are included?
What stereotypes are alluded to?
How does he create a sense of place?
What cultural differences does he note?

31. For reasons that I have never understood, the French have a particular genius when it comes to tacky religious keepsakes, and in a gloomy shop on a corner of the Place d'Armes, I found one I liked: a plastic model of the Virgin Mary standing with beckoning arms in a kind of grotto fashioned from seashells, miniature starfish, lacy sprigs of dried seaweed and a polished lobster claw. Glued to the back of the Madonna's head was a halo made from a plastic curtain ring, and on the lobster claw the model's gifted creator had painted an oddly festive­looking 'Calais!' in neat script. I hesitated because it cost a lot of money, but when the lady of the shop showed me that it also plugged in and lit up like a funfair ride at Margate, the only question in my mind was whether one would be enough.
Why so critical?
Use the CONE resource and analyse the three extracts.

32. GOODNESS ME, BUT ISN'T LONDON BIG
GOODNESS ME, BUT ISN'T LONDON BIG? IT SEEMS TO START ABOUT twenty minutes after you leave Dover and just goes on and on, mile after mile of endless grey suburbs with their wandering ranks of terraced houses and stuccoed semis that always look more or less identical from a train, as if they've been squeezed out of a very large version of one of those machines they use to make sausages. How, I always wonder, do all the millions of occupants find their way back to the right boxes each night in such a complex and anonymous sprawl?
Victoria Station was swarming with the usual complement of lost­looking tourists, lurking touts and passed­out drunks. I can't remember the last time I saw anyone at Victoria who looked like he was there to catch a train. On my way out, three separate people enquired whether I had any spare change ­ 'No, but thank you for asking!' ­ which wouldn't have happened twenty years ago.
place

33. I can never understand why Londoners fail to see that they live in the most wonderful city in the world. It is far more beautiful and interesting than Paris, if you ask me, and more lively than anywhere but New York ­ and even New York can't touch it in lots of important ways. It has more history, finer parks, a livelier and more varied press, better theatres, more numerous orchestras and museums, leafier squares, safer streets, and more courteous inhabitants than any other large city in the world.
And it has more congenial small things ­ incidental civilities you might call them ­ than any other city I know: cheery red pillar boxes, drivers who actually stop for you on pedestrian crossings, lovely forgotten churches with wonderful names like St Andrew by the Wardrobe and St Giles Cripplegate, sudden pockets of quiet like Lincoln's Inn and Red Lion Square, interesting statues of obscure Victorians in togas, pubs, black cabs, double­decker buses, helpful policemen, polite notices, people who will stop to help you when you fall down or drop your shopping, benches everywhere. What other great city would trouble to put blue plaques on houses to let you know what famous person once lived there or warn you to look left or right before stepping off the kerb? I'll tell you. None.

34. Bryson is a travel writer but for him travel is__________________________
His language is generally_____________________ and he does this to convey his
attitudes and opinions of the UK:__________________________________
He purposely refers to the familiar in a cynical and scathing fashion in order to
_______________________________________
The audience are meant to ____________________________________
He is very personal and detailed, taking on an almost expert tone e.g. ________ _________________________________________________
When he describes_______________________________________________ the lexis used is
_____________________________________________
His sentence construction creates a ________________pace for example___________
______________________________________
When imitating a dialogue he uses _____________________________________ which creates