Rayyan Muzammil

English A1
Analysis
Japanese Gardens
The given text is an extract from a book called ‘Japanese Gardens’. It is
a first person narrative, which helps to reduce the distance between the reader
and the narrator. This text has a wide audience, particularly those which are
interested in reading stories, or to learn more about Japan. The purpose of this
text is to give information or a deeper insight of gardens in Japan. The writer
compares Japan with the West.
All paragraphs in the text are moderately sized, except one line that is
written separately “It was a cultural chasm”. This puts an emphasis on the fact
that there was a profound difference between their cultural views.
The extract appeals to the respective intended audiences as it
develops awareness of the cultural differences between Japan and the Western
cultures. For example: ‘in Japan your Western head will inevitably lead you
away from where your Japanese head needs to be’, ‘creativity and society
cannot be separated in Japan’, ‘clearly appalled at our lateness but too well-
mannered to be anything but politely and formally welcoming’, and ‘the
Japanese are much more accepting and broader minded than we are in the
West’.
The writer used the lexis relating to design and precision, including: not
intended for casual mooching, carefully arranged, and designed to be viewed.
Lexis indicating harmony are also used, such as: have never been in conflict, sit
side by side, almost anything is tolerated. On the other hand, disharmony is
also shown e.g. extremely curt farewells, argy-bargy, cultural chasm, going off
piste is not an option.
The writer provides factual information about the gardens, for example,
they have a route base upon a series of carefully arranged viewpoints.
Everything in a garden is part of a code, like Zen dry gardens are designed to be
viewed from a static position, and tea gardens have one narrow path that is
carefully designed.
 The writer also uses multiple anecdotes, for example: I always try to
empty myself, we were due to film a garden made by Mr Ishihara, and our
airport guide tried to physically wrest the camera and halt proceedings. This
helps to make the text more interesting and fun to read.
The extract ends with a line saying, “as long as the laws of the family
and society are not broken, almost anything is tolerated”. This sentence has
positive connotation and helps to end the extract with a sense of harmony.