GCSE-readyAnthology Part 1: Levine and Zeppa, travel writing
Two Part 1 texts are travel writing: Emma Levine watching a chaotic donkey race in Pakistan, and Jamie Zeppa arriving in Bhutan. Travel writing mixes description of a place with the writer's personal reactions. This text is in copyright, so it is described in our own words. Use your Anthology for exact quotations.
From A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat (Emma Levine)
Content: Levine watches an illegal donkey race on a busy highway in Karachi, Pakistan, following it in a vehicle among a noisy convoy of spectators.
Methods: a lively, often humorous first-person voice; vivid description of noise, speed and chaos; contrast between the small donkeys and the excited crowd; quick pace that mirrors the race.
From Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan (Jamie Zeppa)
Content: the extract describes her journey into Bhutan through the mountains. The scale of the landscape is overwhelming: she feels fear and unease as well as wonder, and begins to see that this place will change her.
Methods: detailed description of mountains and valleys; honest inner thoughts; contrast between her old life and the new place; a reflective tone.
Comparing them
| Levine | Zeppa | |
|---|---|---|
| Setting | A busy city highway in Pakistan | Remote mountains in Bhutan |
| Mood | Exciting, chaotic, comic | Awe mixed with fear, reflective |
| Writer's role | Amused observer of a local event | A newcomer at the start of a life-changing stay |
| Shared feature | First-person reactions to an unfamiliar place | First-person reactions to an unfamiliar place |
What makes both texts travel writing?
- Both describe a specific real place in detail.
- Both are told in the first person.
- Both show the writer's personal reactions to a culture or landscape new to them.
Answer: They describe real, unfamiliar places in vivid detail through the writer's own first-person experience and reactions.
Levine: a humorous, fast-paced account of a donkey race in Karachi. Zeppa: an awed and uneasy arrival in the Bhutanese mountains. Both are first-person travel writing that mixes description with personal reaction.
- Travel writing
- Literary non-fiction describing journeys and places, often from a personal perspective.
- Form
- The type of text, such as an article, letter, speech, review, guide, leaflet or story, each with its own conventions.
- Pace
- The speed at which events unfold or a text reads. Short sentences can quicken pace; long ones can slow it.
- Tone
- The attitude or emotion in a writer's voice, such as angry, nostalgic, sarcastic or hopeful.
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In which city does Levine watch the donkey race?
- London
- Thimphu
- Mumbai
- Karachi
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Answer: Karachi
The race is in Karachi, Pakistan.
What contrast does Levine use?
- Ice and fire
- Mountains and valleys
- War and peace
- Small donkeys and a noisy, excited crowd
Show the answer
Answer: Small donkeys and a noisy, excited crowd
The contrast adds comedy.
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- Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Language (4EA1) specification
- Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Language A (4EA1) specification, Issue 6
Checked by the GCSE-ready editorial team, 16 October 2026. Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.