neither here nor there - bill bryson

Question 1

neither here nor there - overview

Answer 1

• bill bryson - american author famed for writing travel memoirs and books on languages
• first person narrative voice tells story of his journey through europe in 1990
• includes memoirs of earlier trip to paris in 1970s

Question 2

neither here nor there - gramps

Answer 2

G - travel memoir
R - informal
A - fans of his writing
M - written
P - to entertain
S - travelling to Paris

Question 3

neither here nor there - lexis and semantics

Answer 3

• beautiful descriptions of Paris
• verb ‘flying’ and simile ‘like flocks’ creates extended metaphor showing the chaotic pace of paris
• counterbalanced with humour - melodramatic comments that Paris has ‘the world’s most aggressive drivers’
• uses childish humour
• description of a painting in the louvre ‘two aristocratic ladies…’ - euphemistic innuendo entertaining for the reader in its irreverent description of the art and typical of bryson’s style

Question 4

neither here nor there - discourse

Answer 4

• bryson signposts his narrative through a series of temporal (‘by half past eight’) and spatial (‘outside’) discourse markers at the start of his paragraphs - helps pace the text and allows us to follow his journey as a silent companion
• text tone oscillates between irreverence and reluctant admiration of the city - crude depiction of pigeon (p20) to a rather sweet recollection of his honeymoon in Paris (p23)
• balance of tones allows the reader to deem bryson as an authentic writer who is both relatable and amusing

Question 5

neither here nor there - grammar

Answer 5

• bryson’s sentence links tend to be long, giving us the sense that he’s ranting about Paris as much as he is describing it
• this is made worse by his frequent use use of a series of interrogatives to show his frustration with the city’s peculiarity (p19)

Question 6

neither here nor there - phonology

Answer 6

• makes good use of sensory language - auditory language to help immerse the readers in the city
• this is achieved through onomatopoeia (p16)
• when he is irritated he uses plosive sounds to convey his disgust with events (‘using my book to block the door’ p24)