May 2022 Paper 1 Sample Response 2 (Travel Blog)

Guiding question: Examine how the narrative voice is used in this text to create a sense of immediacy whilst also attempting to involve the reader.

This text is one of many blog posts written by a journalist and cycling enthusiast who focuses on telling the tale of their journey across three continents by bike. With a key focus on entertainment and comedy, the author is able to not only target regular readers of their blog and bike enthusiasts, but also anyone looking for an enjoyable read. In the context of the author’s journey across the globe, each new country provides the author with the opportunity of targeting new readers specific to each country, as long as they can read in English. Through the reading of this blog, it has become evident that the author has a strong focus on making their stories enjoyable, and to entertain the reader. Through the use of first-person storytelling, vivid imagery, narrative structure, and humor, the author attempts to involve the reader in their journey around the world by making it seem like they are experiencing it with him, in order to grow his reader base.

In the informal context of a blog post, the most effective method for creating viewer engagement is to make what they’re reading enjoyable and relatable. Whilst creating an enjoyable story from their experience, the author is able to prevent themselves from alienating the reader through their use of simplistic and relatable moments. In the first paragraph, the author mentions how after spending an “exhilarating 20 minutes wrapping all my electrical equipment,” they then begin their journey only to have it end 10 minutes later. This experience in itself is something many people experience daily, where an uncontrollable factor leads to them being forced to stop whatever it is they were doing. However, by following this experience with the use of vivid imagery, as they depict a bus station with “a woman in a dark, grimy cubbyhole,” the reader is able to picture themselves in this exact scenario, invoking a sense of immediacy, a sense of being there with the author. With each following example, the author creates a storyline, be it with their use of “17 bystanders help me squeeze her indelicately inside” as they describe how they force their bike into the back of a tiny bus, or how the host at the house they’re staying at has “a newborn baby and hyperactive two year old” as they describe their experience with couch-surfing. Every time the author chooses to describe a specific experience in their journey, it serves the purpose of engaging the reader, and providing them with the necessary information to form their own exciting journey in their imagination.

The author further pushes this focus on story telling through their use of narrative structure. The text is structured so that each new paragraph represents a new experience or thought process of the author. In the first two paragraphs, the author’s direct use of time with “20 minutes” or “the next bus goes to Sofia at 1pm” provides the reader with the starting point of the author’s story and a sense of immediacy. Towards the end of the blog post, the author starts the paragraphs with “by the time we arrive” and “I finally arrive” to show how long it has been since their first example. Through the use of narrative structure and segmentation, the author is thus able to alter their writing style and emotions throughout the text. This is seen with the initial use of short sentences like “My first day in Bulgaria doesn’t bode well,” and “ten minutes later, I venture back again,” which are used to describe the issues faced by the author. However, towards the end of the text, the author uses this sentence structure to represent their how their viewpoint changes on the host family. As they begin to get to know them, the author initially describes them as “some kind of cycle-obsessed sado-masochists,” which changes to “they are a sweet couple, however,” and describes how the father works for the British Council and the mother works as an electrical engineer. This probably came as a surprise to the reader, and serves the purpose that nobody is who they seem on the outside. Whilst the family might look crazy due to their energetic children, or the fact that they provide couch-surfing when it obviously didn’t suit them, as the author gets to know them, they understand the nature of this couple, as “they are gentle sorts with a beatnik edge and unkempt charm.” The way the author chooses to describe this family might be relatable to someone that the reader knows and at the very least, because of this description, readers are placed right next to this family in their home.  By changing their opinion of their experiences through the time shifts, the author creates a sense of realism.  Whilst something might seem poor in the beginning, with the rain and dark bus stop, by meeting this charming couple, the author discovers the true enjoyment behind exploring the world, and how, whilst there might be numerous poor experiences, by sharing how they can find the good in it, the author creates a story which entices the reader to think about how one’s life perspective matters.

Throughout the text, the authors use of vivid imagery and exaggeration creates a sense of enjoyment for the reader. Be it the “sluggishly through the tsunami” or how bringing children on cycle tours is “the worst kind of self-inflicted torture,” the author’s repeatedly attempts to make the story not only relatable as aforementioned, but also somewhat of a humorous and enjoyable experience. However, the author also offers a form of criticism to the country that they are visiting. The author repeatedly describes how the harsh weather, bad food, and small buses affected them negatively. Readers from Bulgaria might take this negatively; this could incite reader feedback, involving them in the text. This is seen with how they describe Bulgaria as not achieving anything over the last decades.

Through the author’s use of narrative voice, they create a sense of immediacy for the reader, and in the context of a blog post, are able to effectively involve the reader as well.  The text type allows readers to share and comment on their blog, and possibly share their own experience compared to what the author has experienced. 

Word count: 1043